BANKS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE ETHICS: THE NATURE OF POLICING CORRUPTION

CHAPTER 2: POLICE ETHICS

  • Styles of Policing

    • Various approaches within law enforcement such as:

    • Crime fighter

    • Emergency operator

    • Social enforcer

    • Social peacekeeper

    • Different roles include:

    • Patrol officers

    • Middle managers

    • Higher administrators

    • Detectives and investigators

POLICE AS AN INSTITUTION

  • Nature of Policing

    • Policing in the U.S. is characterized by:

    • A highly decentralized structure

  • Training

    • Brief on U.S. law enforcement training systems

  • Policing Institutions

    • Viewed as:

    • A profession

    • A bureaucracy

POLICE CULTURE

  • Understanding Police Culture

    • Types of police culture:

    • Institutional or Organizational Culture

    • Occupational Culture

    • Influential concepts in police culture include:

    • Use of deadly force

    • Lying and deception

    • Loyalty among officers

    • Cynicism

    • Perception of police as victims

  • Changing Police Culture

    • Possible factors contributing to change include:

    • Social changes

    • Training programs

    • Despite changes, underlying world views have not shifted significantly since the 1970s.

POLICE DISCRETION

  • Limiting Police Discretion

    • Police possess a high degree of discretion in their duties.

    • Solutions may be needed to curb potential misconduct.

  • Discretion and Accountability

    • A relationship exists between accountability and widespread discretion.

    • Decisions involve navigating the scope versus interpretation of laws.

ETHICS AND CODES OF ETHICS

  • Relationship Between Ethics and Codes of Ethics

    • Ethical standards tend to be briefer than formal codes.

    • Codes cannot be considered comprehensive or definitive.

    • Lack of enforcement procedures in existing codes.

  • Police Compliance with Ethical Codes

    • Standards of conduct depend on the individual officer’s interpretation.

    • Compliance may hinge on personal character.

  • Ethics Instruction

    • Essential for proper policing; recommended by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

    • It involves evaluating police training curricula.

  • Ethical Police Leadership

    • Police leaders face considerable ethical challenges.

    • There is a correlation between ethical behaviors and decision-making.

POLICING AND STRESS

  • Nature of Police Occupational Stress

    • Factors influencing stress include:

    • Organizational tensions

    • Officer perceptions and workplace problems

    • Lack of support from networks

    • Organizational stress negatively affects operational effectiveness.

  • Stress and Crime Fighting

    • Identifies stressors specific to large versus small departments:

    • Daily tensions

    • Explosive and implosive events

  • Coping with Stress

    • Police culture aids in managing stress; various treatment and prevention programs are available.

    • Individual and department strategies can be implemented to minimize stress.

  • Angry Aggression

    • Theory related to extralegal force and emotional responses:

    • Emotional arousal can lead to aggressive actions

    • Police may transfer aggression onto their targets.

POLICE "MILITARIZATION"

  • Historical and Contemporary Context—Police and Military

    • Emphasis on separating military actions from civilian affairs and the impact of the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA).

    • Historical context includes suspension and weakening of the PCA post-WWI.

  • The Militarization Thesis

    • Points supporting police/military convergence include:

    • Elements of military practices in law enforcement

    • Manifestations of militarization in policing practices.

  • Number and Deployment of SWAT Units

    • Indicates a shift towards militarization in response to the war on drugs:

    • SWAT capabilities and their use in executing search warrants may raise concerns regarding appropriate use.

  • Causes of Militarization

    • Rooted in the war on drugs and terror, with the complications of moral panics and perceived crises influencing police practices.

  • Consequences of Militarization

    • Examples of adverse outcomes from tactical SWAT usage:

    • Growth in tactical team evolutions

    • Some agencies opting out of militarization practices.

  • Critiques of the Militarization Thesis

    • Discussions about SWAT engendering public fear with claims that evidence is limited:

    • SWAT culture reflects broader police culture.

    • Variance in appreciation for lethal force between military and police.

  • State Violence and Fear of Crime Versus Police Culture

    • Examination of militarization's impact on community policing:

    • Association of SWAT with elements of police culture.

    • Influence of militarization on ground-level police practices.

POLICE CORRUPTION

  • Nature of Police Corruption

    • Types of corruption include:

    • Kickbacks

    • Opportunistic theft

    • Shakedowns

    • Protection of illegal activities

    • Fixing traffic and criminal charges

    • Internal payoffs

Explanations for Police Corruption

  • Accepting Gratuities

    • Challenges surrounding police receiving small gifts:

    • Concerns about their influence on moral judgment.

    • Connecting gratuities with distributive justice policy.

  • Personalistic Explanations

    • Focus on individual officers and possible traits that contribute to corruption:

    • “Rotten apple” theory, police personality factors, and lack of competence.

  • Institutional Explanations

    • Consideration of organizational pressures and societal interactions.

  • Systemic Explanations

    • Corruption linked to societal contexts such as:

    • Societal pressures leading to perceived lower salaries and increased vice law violations, and conditions in developing nations.

  • Slippery Slope Explanation

    • Officers may become desensitized to ethical concerns due to bonding social considerations.

  • Noble Cause Corruption

    • Involves places personal morality over legal boundaries for perceived greater good.

  • Societal Stress as an Explanation for Corruption

    • Examines societal pressures and their connection to policing practices.

Combating Corruption

  • Emphasizes recruitment strategies, reducing opportunities for corrupt practices, and enhancing motivation for ethical behavior:

    • Implementation of proper detection and deterrence methods.

Police Corruption in the United Kingdom

  • Overview of UK police forces, including the establishment of professional standards and intelligence operations:

    • Potential for sharing sensitive information outside of law enforcement entities.

Reducing Corruption Strategies

  • Advocates for adherence to moral imperatives and systems of rewards/penalties:

    • Stressing ethical standards.

    • Promoting collective accountability of police officers.

Ensuring Police Accountability

  • Discusses community responsibility in providing oversight,

    • Support for citizen review processes despite police pushback against external evaluations.

    • Initiatives like the Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

New Police Accountability

  • Highlights mechanisms for holding agencies and officers accountable and the complexity involved:

    • Discusses connections with legislation like the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.

Police Auditors

  • Focus on the functions and efficacy of police auditors, emphasizing organizational change and incident scrutiny:

    • Describes specific functions performed by auditors.

External Citizen Review of Police

  • Overview of external review processes:

    • Methodologies and limitations concerning discipline imposition.

Accountability in Other Countries

  • Comparative look at accountability measures in several countries, highlighting various standards of police oversight.

Whistle-Blowing

  • Nature of whistle-blowing mechanisms:

    • Differences between internal and external whistle-blowers,

    • Consequences and protection considerations.

When Is Whistle-Blowing Morally Justified?

  • Criteria for determining moral justification:

    • Good faith efforts to expose wrongdoing, exhausting internal options, evidence validity, and potential for successful intervention.

DISCRIMINATION AS A CORRUPT PRACTICE IN POLICING

  • Racial Bias and Racism

    • Examination of prejudicial attitudes within police culture, exploring the comparison between officer and public attitudes wherein officers are slightly more prejudiced.

    • Discussion of cynicism stemming from high-crime neighborhood dynamics.

  • Racial Profiling

    • Conceptualization of racial profiling as it pertains to criminal indicators; results in reinforcing stereotypes, and issues of perceived disrespect from police encounters.

  • The Morality of Racial Profiling

    • Ethical debates surrounding the use of race in law enforcement, especially in extraordinary situations, and the complications of prohibiting arrest based solely on racial profiling.

  • "Driving While Black"

    • Analysis of routine traffic stops concerning racial dynamics;

    • Relates to Whren v. United States and implications for racial subordination.

  • "Stop and Frisk"

    • Overview of the practice's controversial elements:

    • Dependency on stereotypical perceptions, contributing to negative police-community relations.

    • Issues surrounding violations of rights and broader consequences from overuse of the tactic.

  • Confidence in the Police

    • Exploration of how race and ethnicity shape public attitudes towards law enforcement, particularly in high-crime neighborhoods, and the implications of aggressive policing.

    • Discusses disproportionate arrest rates for Black individuals, fuelling public distrust.

  • Selective Law Enforcement

    • Investigates the dynamics of police enforcement selectivity, particularly regarding domestic violence:

    • Notes instances of discriminatory treatment, especially towards women and rape victims.