The Issue of Police Misconduct - Term Paper Example

Police Misconduct In March of 2000, in Louisville, KY, two police officers were awarded medals for shooting an 18-year-old black man who, they say, was trying to run over them with his truck (Cose 2000). An investigation followed, and it was discovered that the police officers were perhaps not so correct in their judgment (Cose 2000). At around the same time, in New York City, an undercover police officer tried to buy drugs from an innocent bystander, which resulted in "the fourth police killing of an unarmed civilian in little more than a year" (Cose 2000). Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tried to protect the police officer by saying he was justified in the shooting because of the victim's past criminal record, while ignoring his present innocence (Cose 2000). Incidents such as these clearly show that misconduct is a far-reaching problem, affecting police departments at every level of operation (Ivkovic, 2003). In fact, it is a problem that has existed since at least the beginning of the 20th century, when the first attempts were made to combat it on a professional level (O'Shea and Nichols, 2003). What, exactly, can be considered police misconduct It is basically any behavior on the part of a police officer that is illegal, an obvious misuse of authority, or an effort to gain some type of material reward. Acts of misconduct generally fall within two categories: physical/emotional abuse (as described in the cases above), and the more widely studied issue of corruption. Why is police misconduct seen as being so terrible It is because they are the ones who solve our problems for us and put the bad guys away. They are not supposed to be the bad guys themselves. However, it is almost understandable that police would fall prey to these types of actions, since their jobs constantly place them in situations where they are with "bad guys" everyday, and there are obviously some opportunities for great temptation to occur (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). Although we know corruption exists, it is difficult to say just how common it is because "the measurement of police corruption is surprisingly underdeveloped" (Ivkovic, 2003). One reason for the difficulty in measuring corruption is the fact that the ones who know the most about corruption (the police themselves) do not want to talk about it (Ivkovic, 2003). Some of the most common ways to assess corruption are through interviews, surveys, and observation (Ivkovic, 2003). Each of these methods has severe limitations and cannot be used by itself. However, when two or more of these methods are used together, there is a much better chance of getting a reliable assessment of corruption (Ivkovic, 2003). It is important to learn how to best measure police corruption, and the severity of it, in order to know how to best treat the problem. Louise Westmarland (2005) used a survey to ask British police officers questions about how they viewed police corruption, unethical behavior, and breaking the rules on occasion. Certain actions, like gaining materially from the position, were seen to be much more serious than others, like excessive physical violence or lying to protect colleagues (Westmarland, 2005). Even then, some of the people answering the survey said that they would not report some of the more serious abuses of authority (Westmarland, 2005). Similarly to what Ivkovic (2003) found, Westmarland's study indicated: That officers who responded to the survey are relatively unwilling to report unethical behaviour by colleagues unless there is some sort of acquisitive motive or outcome predicted (2005). For better or worse, it is obvious that police officers act under a different code than most other city residents. Perhaps it is the stress of the job and the unusual circumstances that officers often find themselves in that causes them to "take care of their own," no matter what. Westmarland (2005) calls this "the blue code of silence." It appears that the lack of an outside governing body is what keeps police departments behaving under this code, rather than acting under a broader ethical code. O'Shea and Nicholls (2003) conducted a survey of police departments' crime analysis procedures throughout the U.S. They discuss the shift over the past century to a new, more democratic, form of policing, called community policing (O'Shea and Nicholls, 2003). This form of policing allows the police to have much more interaction with, and control over, their own policies (O'Shea and Nicholls, 2003). Professional policing, as was common in the early 20th century, was established to try to cut back on the corruption rates that plagued the nation's cities (O'Shea and Nicholls, 2003). Police "distanced themselves from corrupting influences and the general public" (O'Shea and Nicholls, 2003). It appears that this could be one reason for the increase in police corruption. The police now are much more involved in their own government; therefore, they are likely to be much more involved in covering up the things that are wrong within their departments. For this reason, communities have taken a corrective, rather than preventive, approach to ending police corruption. These efforts have focused on individuals and communities - especially in predominantly black neighborhoods, where interactions between the public and police officers are notoriously violent. In St. Louis, for the year 2005, 310 cases of misconduct were reviewed and punished (King, 2006). Now residents, along with help from the local American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), are taking matters into their own hands (King, 2006). They have been given 50 camcorders to use in recording their interactions with police. This move has apparently caused some bad feelings, but it has opened up doors for healthier ways to deal with things (King, 2006). St. Louis recently created a civilian review board, which will hopefully allow for an open discussion between citizens and the police officers who are supposed to "protect and serve" them (King, 2006). This kind of thinking follows the "bad apple" police corruption, where a few bad officers are said to be the source of the problems for the whole department (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). This problem is thought to occur because an increase in police recruiting efforts in the U.S. has led to the lowering of police selection standards for these new recruits (Newham, 2002). The police department, as a whole, is generally criminalized, and is subject to much closer scrutiny (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). The downfall of this form of training is that it fails to instill any sort of values or ethics into police officers' minds. Instead, it decreases the bad behaviors by increasing the probability that the responsible officers will be caught (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). Fear of punishment, and not a true sense of right and wrong, is what motivates the behavior. In the words of Johnson and Cox (2004-5), "the problem is not a "few bad apples," but an organizational climate that molds new officers into thinking and doing as the organization wishes." While any corrective measure is a step in the right direction, it seems unlikely that this approach would really solve anything at the police department level, although it may make the community feel better about knowing that something is being done to end the wrongs that are performed against them. Punishing the behavior will stop it for a little while, but it will not permanently correct it. The biggest problem with police corruption is that it is so deep down in the system. This makes it difficult to get at its root. It would appear that those who would be able to best treat the problem - the police - are least able (or willing) to do so because of the close-knit, protective environment they are in. To end the problem of corruption, it is necessary to get into that close-knit environment, and work from the inside out. Newham (2002) argues the importance of police accountability in order to eliminate the criminal behaviors of law enforcement. Indeed, much progress has been made in establishing internal review groups in most police departments for accountability checks. Newham (2002) notes that, in general, the idea of internal controls is a good one. The investigators understand the police culture better than others would, and they are sometimes more effective at breaking through the "blue code of silence." The question remains, though, what happens when the internal review cops are just as corrupt as the cops they are investigating Wouldn't that lead to more harm than good The police system needs more than just accountability. It needs a major shift in the way it thinks and operates. Johnson and Cox (2004-5) demonstrate how this shift might work, although they note the difficulties associated with it: The organizational culture of police agencies acts as a protective web around departments to discourage deviation from the standard mode of operation; this makes any proposal for change difficult to implement (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). They suggest that the root of the problem is at the officer training level. Officers are taught what the rules are and how to obey them, but they are not taught why the rules exist (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). In this case, professional ethics are not at all explained, and are barely even implied. According to Johnson and Cox (2004-5), there are also major differences between the situations officers face in the classroom and the situations they face in real life. This can cause a great deal of stress for the rookie cop who expects things to be one way, but finds out they are actually quite different. A set of rules and regulations will not help this officer deal with things effectively. In fact, he might not even be able to remember all the rules in the time of crisis. He needs to learn how to think differently - how to incorporate the important ethical principles into his everyday decision-making (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). This would require a much greater time commitment than is usually allowed in current training programs, which mainly concentrate on the physical part of the job (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). Current ethical training in many police academies occurs in one one- to two-hour session (Johnson and Cox, 2004-5). This issue of police misconduct is a serious one - and is not going to be easily solved. Obviously, past attempts to end the problem have failed, although some progress has been made along the way. Community involvement is good, but punitive measures are not very effective. It is clear that correcting "one bad apple" will not take care of the rest of the bunch. That one "bad apple" has infected all of the other trees, or perhaps the diseased trees have caused the apple to turn bad. In either case, the problem is not as simple as traditional theories would make it out to be. There will always be police officers that are capable of turning into the "bad apple" for whatever reason, and police departments need to be able to recognize this possibility and learn how to correct it. In order for this to occur, police training programs need to be changed, or at least extended. Tighter reins on recruiting might also help to a certain extent, but first, the poison within the department will need to be gotten rid of. If all existing and future officers undergo more thorough ethical training, this might be possible. Unfortunately, this sort of change won't happen overnight, and it won't be cheap. This may be one of the reasons the training programs haven't been improved before now. Government improvements cost money, which usually means more taxes for the citizens. And citizens are hardly ever willing to pay more, but at what cost to their own safety and peace of mind References Cose, E. (2000). Cracks in the thin blue line. Newsweek, 135(15), 33. Ivkovic, S.K. (2003). To serve and collect: Measuring police corruption. Journal of Law & Criminology, 93(2-3), 593-649. Johnson, T.A., & Cox, R.W., III. (2004-2005). Police ethics: Organizational implications. Public Integrity, 7(1), 67-79. King, J. (2006). Civilian boards best to keep cops in check. USA Today, 7 July, 11A. Newham, G. (2002). Promoting police integrity at station level: The case of the Hillbrow police station. Urban Forum, 13(3), 20-52. O'Shea, T.C., & Nicholls, K. (2003). Police crime analysis: A survey of US police departments with 100 or more sworn personnel. Police Practice & Research, 4(3), 233-250. Westmarland, L. (2005). Police ethics and integrity: Breaking the blue code of silence. Policing & Society, 15(2), 145-165. Read More