Literature Review

Even though there are numerous studies that have focused on number misconduct that done by law enforces, most of them have not given adequate focus on unethical behaviors perpetrated by the officers while in service. Most of the studies seem to focus on few numbers of misconducts perpetrated by the officers during the service. Most enforcement professional are supposed to be good, ethical and caring people. However, research has shown that every time individual’s behaviors do not conform to their attitudes, they are likely to experience psychological tensions. As a result of this tension, people tend to modify the contradictory beliefs to eliminate any discomfort. Similarly, law enforcers eliminate the tension by engaging in misconduct that leads to unethical behaviors that are personally and as to the society, unacceptable. As a result, this has allowed law officers to act immorally in order to preserve their self-image as ethically good people. For instance, some officers rely in denial of victim tactic such as in the case of drug dealers and argue that since they are no victims, no harm has been done. An officer may take money from a suspected drug dealer when providing a search warrant and argue that since the suspect acquired the money illegally, he is not entitled to the proceeds. Such rationalization is used by the officers to neutralize the ethical misconducts.

There are numerous studies that show different forms of misconducts by the officers that lead to deficiencies in law enforcement. Prenzler (2007) paid attention to corruption that occurs on a wide range of jurisdictions. Prenzler explains that corruption is the main policing that continues to recur around the world. The author explored various causal factors that lead to make the police officers to engage in corruption deals and examined their effects to the community. The author proposes that the police officers can maintain integrity at work by developing conventional ethics and the methods of dealing with the misconducts text examines some of the useful tactics that could reduce corruption such as the integrity tests, covert surveillances and early warnings and intervention systems. Prenzler recognized that corruption poses a potential risk to the community such as the diffusion of responsibility (shared guilt); leading to increased crimes rates. However, more research needs to be done on other forms of police misconducts that lead to unethical behaviors during service.

Other studies have focused on the contemporary issues of the important facers of law enforcement ethics. Fitch (2013) focused on ethics of force, interrogation, racial profiling and marginalization. He further covered on several unique aspects of ethic which include cheating during law enforcement promotional activities and the off-duty misconducts. He suggested that law enforcement ethics should be included in training, supervision and the selection of the officers in order to prevent the misconducts. Fitch incorporates diverse task forces of preventing the misconducts that include educators, scholars and practitioners from a variety of disciplines. Fitch gives more attention to topics such as the role of culture, policy, environment and reward systems are ways of strengthening law enforcement ethics. However, previous studies have emphasized on performance evaluation to evaluate the misconducts and ensure the police officers comply with standard codes of ethics. Porter & Prenzler (2012) focused on police misconduct scandals and in Australia which affected the police integrity management practices. Presenting the interviews from the past two decades, they found that the policies, institutions and programs in Australian police departments were not effective in exploring underground stings, ethical training, police use of force, alcohol and drugs testing and mediation of complains from the public. Porter & Prenzler (2012) focused on several cutting edge initiatives that would help to combat police misconducts such as highlighting the main issues of the police misconducts and their impacts such as the corruption. Also, they covered current integrity strategies in Australia, evidence effectiveness, and the on-going concerns of the ethical issues. The findings measures the effectiveness of the Australian ethical systems and their impact in other police departments around the word. However, there was no adequate studies that done on various forms of police misconducts in Australia. More research needs to be done on ethical issues relating to police treatment of crime suspects. Other researcher, such as Barker (2011), has focused on the longstanding challenge of implementing responsible, effective and acceptable practices in ethical police work. The author provides unique insights on informative and fact-filled text on ethical crisis that happen in law enforcement and the problems that policing has been a ‘morally dangerous occupation’. Barker (2011) discusses the moral dangers of policing at length and emphasizes on most vital ethical standards that pertains to the police officers. The author focuses on issues such as how ethical issues can be controlled, corrupt practices and corrupt control and law enforcement code of ethics. The goal of the author was to provide officers, city administrators and law enforcement agencies with skills, tools and the most current information of dealing with unethical police behavior. The text recognizes that police sexual misconduct has been in existence among the male police officers who come in contact with the females during their routine police duties. However, the study does not provide adequate information misconducts of new and seasoned police officers in an effort to ensure a true policing profession. More research needs to be done on the negative effects of misconduct of police officers working on shifts at night and who stop women that are intoxicated with alcohol and take the opportunity to ask for sexual favors.

There are numerous studies that have examined the impact of police unethical behaviors on law enforcement ethical violations. Turvey & Crowder (2013) research findings showed that the law enforcement culture is “code of silence”, together with the errors of misconduct of its membership. Turvey & Crowder (2013) mandates transparency in all methodology including errors and reporting of all forms of misconducts. Turvey & Crowder (2013) focused on ethics courses and emphasized that they were the vital components of forensic science and criminology. They explained that the ethical courses provided solid foundation of dealing with ethical dilemmas and law enforcement. The authors gave the opinion that the crime lab was best suited for law enforcement since it would allow the labs the independence required to sustain an ethically scientific culture. The study by Turvey & Crowder (2013) covers at length the ethical dilemmas arising in law enforcement agencies and provides enough research on practical ethical issues relating to law enforcement, courts and corrections systems. Pollock (2011) focused slightly on a different topic; ethical dilemmas across the three arms of criminal justice, that is, the courts, the police department and the correction systems. Pollock not only covered the justice issues such as the recent corruption scandal in Boston and Chicago police department, but also prostitute indictment by the Governor of New York. Pollock further touched on memoranda involving methods of torture at Guantanamo. Despite Pollock was descriptive of the specific forms of misconducts that were perpetrated by the in Chicago and Boston, the studies produced mixed results. Pollock did not adequately establish the relationship between the police career and the consistency of their corruption scandals in their career advancements. Moreover, Pollock provided shallowly how the corruption scandals in Boston and Chicago impacted law enforcement. As such, more research needs to be done on the causal factors of corruption scandals and their impact on law enforcement.

Nichol & Franks, (2009) paid attention to the importance of ethics in the law enforcement community. They explained that the police chiefs believed in their mission to their organizations, procedures and the ability to resolves the ethical dilemmas. The article emphasized the frequent ethics training, content, as well as instructions, would help to prevent police misconducts and the ethical dilemmas. The article proposed that the student-centered approach would be an effective ethic instruction tool that should be offered throughout the officer’s career regardless of his or her rank. However, the existing studies have focused on different forms of police misconducts and ways preventing them, rather than the general ethics training. Telep (2011) focused on whether police officers acquiring college degree can improve and reduce abuse of authority. Telep conducted a research on different levels of education and the duration at the completions and also, the potential influence of the knowledge on the officer’s moral values. The study revealed that the officers with pre-service degrees had high moral values and they did not condone abuse of authority when they were in service compared to those who had lower levels of education. The research findings showed that the level of education has a positive impact on the reduction of police misconduct during their service. Although Telep (2011) has shown to a greater extent how education improves the officers’ moral behaviors, existing studies have produced mixed results. As such, more research needs to be done on the issue.

Other studies have shown that the complex relationship among age, experience, education and gender have produced mixed results on the trends of police misconducts and their effects on law enforcement. Chapman (2011), for instance, conducted a research on 511 officers in US minority cities and found although the level of education influenced the moral behaviors of the officer, the research had been equivocal. Among the patrol officers only, those who had education exhibited less use of force. However, younger adults applied more force compared to the experienced adults. Furthermore, the research findings also showed that gender and race had a direct impact on the police misconducts; with some police officers being discriminative to particular race in the United States. The complex relationship of the causal factors of police misconducts have produced mixed result and as such, more research needs to be done the issues. More research should be done on the effect of each factor and ways of preventing in the law enforcement agencies. Other researchers have paid attention to ways of preventing the ethical dilemmas in law enforcement. For instance, Norberg (2013) has tried to link how the moral dimensions and the officers’ values can influence how much they can accomplish at work. The findings showed that discrepancies may arise between the practical ethical awareness and the national ethical values. Norberg paid more attention to ways of dealing with the ethical dilemmas which arise during police services and integration of police values for a successful enforcement of law. However, the article did not provide adequate examples of the various forms of misconducts that are perpetrated by the police officers and which, leads to the ethical dilemmas. As a result, the research findings have produced mixed results. Another researcher such as Raines (2011) conducted an empirical research to explain why some police officers committed the unethical acts and what could be done to prompt the other officers towards reporting such misconducts. Raines (2011) further explained that the law enforcement personnel had had an obligation to fulfill their duties towards the interest of the public and suggested that the ethical values are mostly observed by those who in public that are in contact with the law enforcement personnel. Raines (2011) suggested that officers needed proper supervision especially when handling crime suspect during their service. However, the findings did not provide a comprehensive coverage of the different form of officers misconducts and as such, more research should be done on the issue. Previous studies by Ayouty, Ford & Davies (2000) have shown that good government is the central key towards the development of a country, ethics and law enforcement. Beside the approaches adopted by the New York City, case studies around the world have shown that authorities play an important role by setting proper ethical standards and regulations. Ayouty, Ford & Davies (2000) suggested that proper ethical standards in law enforcement personnel would be achieved through accountability, transparency and predictability in public administration. The findings provided a comprehensive coverage of the role of proper governance; however, there was little information about how governance reduced police misconducts and how it impacted ethical law enforcement.

Other studies such as Madinger (1999) case study, has shown illegal promises made by the FBI agents and the informant are the main cause of misconducts among the law enforcement agencies. The study revealed that once a police made the promise, she had the intention of keeping it; a habit that made the officer to continue with the illegal activities. The findings revealed that the informants were mostly involved in solving crimes; however, they were vulnerable to corruption deals which made them to continue with the unethical behaviors. Madinger (1999) gave an example of the narcotic agents and prompted that there was the need to develop confidential informants in the Criminal Investigation Department as the amicable solution to the unethical behaviors of law enforcers who were involved in the drug trafficking activities. However, the studies do not reveal whether the creation of the confidential law enforcers effectively reduced the unethical behaviors of the officers. More research needs to done on the issue.

Another research, Gottschalk (2009), paid attention to the ways of preventing police misconducts. Gottschalk (2009) emphasized that integrity in law enforcement agency would ensure that the officers were honest and morally upright. Moreover, findings revealed that accountability was important in ensuring the police officers were upheld their responsibility by enquiring them to justify their actions. As such, Gottschalk suggested that the integrity and the accountability by the officers would ensure that they maintained good moral behaviors while in service. However, the findings had limited results since they were based on a single study (oversight agency case study) and as such, more research needs to be done on the issue. Numerous studies have shown that the demand for quick result and the bureaucracies have contributed to the wide range of police misconducts in law enforcement. Cooper (2011) found that the realities of bureaucracies, budgets, demand for quick results and deadlines contributed to the unethical behaviors of the officers. Cooper (2011) explained that due to the pressure by the administration, most police officers were inclined to break the public trust as they grappled with the challenges of making ethical decisions in the real world situations. Cooper suggested that having a responsible administration would provide a framework on which ethical and value-based decision making processes would be facilitated in day-to-day management. The findings had inadequate information regarding the relationship between the administration and the unethical decisions that were made by the officers. As such, the studies should provide an extensive coverage of the relationship between the public administration and the unethical law officers.

Other studies such as Kleinig (1996) paid attention the decision made by the police officers under adversarial situations to be the main causes of the unethical behavior and the ineffective enforcement of law. The findings showed that the officers had considerable power and they were likely to avoid practice discretion in criminal justice; particularly in complex and pressing circumstances. As a result, the findings showed that most officers engaged in selective enforcement of the law-another form of behavior which was unethical. Kleinig emphasized on the use of discretion as the effective method of prevention misconducts among the police officers. Although there are many studies that have focused on other causes of police misconducts, Kleinig findings were based on extensive research and also, had valid conclusion. Other studies have supported that police discretion during service determines the likelihood of the officers engaging in the unethical behaviors. Westervelt & Humphrey (2001) paid attention to unethical procedural guidelines that lead to wrongful conviction of the suspects in courts. The text emphasized on use of uniform standards of ethics when handling the informant’s information; so as to ensure the informant misconducts do not interfere with the criminal’s testimony during the court session. The findings showed that misconducts by the informants affected fallibility of the eyewitness’s testimony. Furthermore, the studies identified cross-racial identification to be the most common misconducts that were perpetrated by the informants. However, the studies did not provide different forms of misconducts that were committed by the informants and as such, more research should be done on the issue.

Other researcher such as MacVean & Neyroud (2012), paid attention to ways of preventing police misconducts and proposed the Codes of Conduct to be the most effective principles and professional approach to policing. The research findings revealed that instituting police ethics in the criminal justice systems would enforce the law and reduce the unethical behavior. However, the studies do not provide adequate information about how to deal with different police misconducts and how the Codes of Ethics would be effective in enforcing the law and as such, more research needs to be done on the issue. Devine & Maassarani (2011) focused on abuse of power as the unethical behavior perpetrated by the law enforcement agencies and in the process, betraying the public trust. The findings cited the scandals by Bernie Madoff in the federal legislation and pointed out that there was the need to cement legislation and protection mechanisms that would allow offers within the federal agencies to “committing to the truth”. The findings suggests that the protection mechanisms and rewards systems for preventing retaliation would be appropriate ways of preventing misconducts within the federal agencies. However, the studies focused on a single justice system-the federal agencies. Other researcher such as Crank & Caldero (2010), identified corruption as a noble cause of misconduct among the law enforcement agencies. The studies showed that the police officers were vulnerable to misconducts when they allowed themselves to be corrupt and to violate the laws. The studies revealed that the police officers power influence made them to easily engage in unethical behaviors. However, the studies did not adequate information on how the police used the power to engage in unethical behaviors and as such, more research needs to be done on the issue. Cox III (2009) paid attention to ethics and integrity and explained that both of them contributed to effective public sector management and law enforcement. However, the studies only focused on integrity but failed to address the issue of unethical behaviors of the law enforcers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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Toward global guidelines. New York, NY: Greenwood Publishing Group

Barker, T. (2011). Police ethics: Crisis in law enforcement. Belmont: Charles C Thomas

Publisher

Crank, J.P., & Caldero, M.A. (2010). Police ethics: The corruption of noble cause. New York,

NY: Routledge

Cox III, R.W. (2009). Ethics and integrity in public administration: Concepts and cases. New

York, NY: M.E. Sharpe

Chapman, C. (2012). Use of force in minority communities is related to police education, age,

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Cooper, T.L. (2011). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative

role. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons

Devine, T., Maassarani, T.F. (2011). The corporate whistleblower’s survival guide: A handbook

for committing the truth. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

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and accountability. New York, NY: Universal-Publishers

Julie Raines. (2011). Ethics in policing: Misconduct and integrity. London: Jones & Bartlett

Publishers

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Rowman & Littlefield

MacVean, A., & Neyroud, P. (2012). Police ethics and values. New York, NY: SAGE

Madinger, J. (1999). Confidential informant: Law enforcement’s most valuable tool. Boca Raton:

CRC Press

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Integrity, 12(1), 39-50

Prenzler, T. (2007). Police corruption: Preventing misconduct and maintaining integrity. New

York, NY: CRC Press

Porter, L., & Prenzler, T. (2012). Police integrity management in Australia: Global lessons for

combating police misconduct. New York, NY: CRC Press

Pollock, J. (2011). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Natorp Boulevard:

Cengage Learning

Turvey, B.E., & Crowder, S. (2013). Ethical justice: Applied issues for criminal justice students

and professionals. New York, NY: Academic Press

Telep, C.W. (2011). The Impact of Higher Education on Police Officer Attitudes toward Abuse

of Authority. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 22(3), 392-419

Westervelt, S.D., & Humphrey, J.A. (2001). Wrongly convicted: Perspectives on failed justice.

New York, NY: Rutgers University Press