CHAPTER 5 The Role of Police in Society Abuse of Power by Police The majority of police officers are professional and ethical. However, a small minority abuse their power. This leads to close scrutiny by the public of all police. Police officers have tremendous power in our society: • The power to arrest • The power to mediate or to charge • The power to use force • The power of life and death ❑ Officers received tip regarding drug activity in a home. ❑ They filed an affidavit for a no-knock search warrant, falsely indicating they had sent an informant in to buy drugs. ❑ When the raid team burst in, the 92-year old San Francisco Police Testilying Case (2006) female resident began shooting at officers. She was killed by a hail of bullets. ❑ When officers found no drugs, they planted drugs, and forced an informant to lie about buying drugs from the woman. ❑ 2 of the 3 officers ultimately confessed and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. ❑ The lead officer received a 6-year sentence. Their sergeant pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating the dead woman’s rights. ❑ Officers were accused of committing perjury by falsely describing drug busts they conducted in written police reports. ❑ Video taken by surveillance cameras San Francisco Officers Allegedly Committed Perjury in Reporting Drug Busts (2011) during separate drug raids show the police officers failed to get consent from the apartment-dwellers before conducting warrantless searches for narcotics. ❑ The officers also misrepresented their searches in later police reports. ❑ Since these reports are written under oath, this was tantamount to perjury, according to the Public Defender. Viewpoint: Police as Crime Fighters • Criminals are the “enemy” and are fundamentally different from “good” people. • Police are the “army” that fights the enemy. • Police must be able to use any means necessary against criminals. • Since police are in a “war,” they must be allowed discretion in making decisions. Herbert Packer's Model of Law Enforcement Crime Control Orientation • Preventing criminal conduct is the most important function of law enforcement. • Failure of law enforcement means the breakdown of order. • Criminal process is the positive guarantor of social freedom. • Efficiency is a top priority. • Emphasis is on speed and finality. • There is a presumption of guilt. Viewpoint: Police as Public Servants • Criminals are like any other citizens. • Police have limited ability to affect crime rates one way or the other. • Police as public servants serve all people, including criminals. • Since police are public servants, their ability to use force should be restricted. Herbert Packer's Model of Law Enforcement Due Process Orientation • There is a possibility of error. • Finality is not a priority. • There is insistence on prevention and elimination of mistakes. • Efficiency is rejected if it involves shortcuts. • Protection of process is as important as protection of innocents. • The coercive power of the state is always subject to abuse. Early American Law Enforcement • 19th-century police were involved in social service activities. • Corruption was common in early police departments. • The move towards police “professionalism” began in the 1920s. • During this period, the role of crime fighter emerged as a characteristic of police. • The role of public servant was minimized. Community Policing • In some ways, a return to original police involvement in service and engagement with community. • Focus is on proactive crime prevention rather than emergency response. • Encourages officers to see citizens as partners. • Shifts decision-making and discretion downward to patrol officers who know the neighborhood best. • More visible operations increase police accountability. Ethical Problems in Community Policing • Gratuities may be an issue for officers who are expected to create and maintain close ties to the community. • The officer’s discretion in enforcing the law may be compromised by personal relationships. • Increased autonomy and decreased supervision may provide greater opportunity for misconduct. ❑ One police officer was fired and St. Petersburg Officers Disciplined for Taking Gratuities two others were disciplined after an internal investigation revealed they routinely accepted items from a local convenience store without paying for them. ❑ Accepting gratuities is a departmental policy violation and a violation of the officers' code of ethics. Klockars’ Police Control Authority: Entitlement to unquestioned obedience that derives from fulfilling a specific role. Power: Power is the threat behind the authority. Persuasion: The use of signs, symbols, words, and arguments to induce compliance. Force: Physical coercion. Source of Police Authority? The Social Contract • Each person gives up complete freedom in exchange for the guaranteed protection of the society against others. • Police power is part of this quid pro quo. • Police power exists to provide protection. • Since police power may also violate rights if abused, it is limited to what is minimally necessary for protection. • If the social contract is the basis of police power, it is also the basis of police ethics. Ethical Standards Associated with the Social Contract • Fair access • Public trust • Safety and security • Teamwork • Objectivity Characteristics of the Effective Public Servant • Wisdom • Good character • Balanced perception • Integrity Discretion The power and authority to choose between two or more courses of behavior. Discretion may be influenced by “style” of policing. Duty • The responsibilities attached to a specific role. • Police roles include both crime fighting and public service. • How far does police duty extend… Enforcing the written law? Providing service? Ensuring medical treatment is provided? Preventing crime altogether? Formal Ethics: Codes, Guidelines & Rules Aspiration/ Ideal “Code” Principles/ Guidelines Mandatory Rules of Conduct Describes the perfect professional. Describes the Serve as the value system of basis of the organization. discipline. Characteristics of Codes of Ethics ▪ Fairness ▪ Service ▪ Importance of the law ▪ Personal conduct Informal Ethics: The Subculture ➢ Typically form a homogenous social group. ➢ Have a uniquely stressful work environment. ➢ Participate in a basically closed social system. “Themes” of Policing (Crank) • Force • Uncertainty • Territorial • Excitement control • Solidarity • Illicit coercion • Masculinity • Guns • “Maintaining • Suspicion • Danger the edge” Police Characteristics (?) ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Cynical Isolated, alienated Defensive, distrustful Authoritarian, dogmatic More conservative than the general public Value equality less than the general public Value obedience over independence Noble-Cause Corruption • Involves officers employing unethical means to catch criminals because “it’s the right thing to do” • Perceived by officers as fulfillment of their profound moral commitment to make the world a safer place to live • Is utilitarianism (the end justifies the means) ❑ A forensics expert for the NC State Bureau of North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Forensics Scandal (2010) Investigation repeatedly lied on the stand while providing testimony crucial to the 2003 conviction of a novelist accused of murdering his wife. ❑ Michael Peterson's conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial in December 2011. ❑ Judge Orlando Hudson described at length how the expert, Duane Deaver, an agent with the NC State Bureau of Investigation, misled a jury about his qualifications and the reliability of his scientific opinions in the Peterson case. ❑ Additionally, an independent audit completed in 2010 found that agents at the crime lab manipulated and withheld the results of hundreds of tests to confirm the presence of blood, tainting prosecutions based on that evidence. “Blue Curtain of Silence” • Facing the wrongdoing of a fellow officer is a police officer’s most difficult ethical dilemma. • The code of silence present in police work is also present in other occupations and professions. • In policing, the code of silence is a form of noble-cause corruption. • Evidence indicates “blue curtain of silence” or “blue curtain of secrecy” is breaking down but still present (2/3 of police said “whistleblower would receive informal sanctions” & 61% said officers do not always report even the most serious violations/crimes of other officers). Loyalty ❖ A component of the esprit de corps of policing. ❖ An absolutely essential element of a healthy department. ❖ Explained by officers’ dependence on one another, sometimes in life-or-death situations. ❖ A personal relationship, not a judgment. Sanctions on “Whistleblowers” ➢A distressing aspect of loyalty ➢ Are often extreme ➢ Have resulted in state and federal legislation to protect whistleblowers ➢ Legislation is ineffective against informal ostracism and rejection ❑ A police officer in Southern Russia was fired after publicly accusing his bosses of corruption. ❑ Dymovsky called on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to take steps to fight corruption in the police force. ❑ He says officers are forced to make up Major Alexey Dymovskiy Russian Police Officer Alleges Police Corruption criminal charges against innocent people in order to cover up the police's inability to track down real criminals. ❑ Although Dymovsky was immediately fired for what his superiors considered slander, an official probe was allegedly launched by the country's interior ministry into the situation in the local police department. ❑ Dymovskiy spent 1 ½ years in jail for fraud and misuse of authority. Change in the Police Subculture Increased diversity • Work force no longer socially homogenous. • Officers vary substantially in their cultural views. • Few factors are strong predictors of officers’ values. Civil litigation • Has increased the risk of covering for another officer. Police unions • Have become more formal with increased power. Zero-Tolerance Policy --Implemented by William Bratton, N.Y. police chief, 1995-1999 • Police took an aggressive stance against street people and minor • • • • criminals, especially those in the business area and subway system. New York City enjoyed a dramatic decline in crime. However, citizen complaints against New York City police rose by 75%. Crime rates fell throughout the country during this period, even in areas without zero-tolerance policies. Also used “CompStat” which is form of accountability. Do you think zero tolerance is effective? What Type of Policing Do We Want? • If forced to make a choice, it is probable that the citizenry would choose crime fighter. • Generally, police do not encounter much criticism when they are successful in their crime fighter role. • The zero-tolerance policy, implemented by William Bratton was an example of this. CHAPTER 4 Becoming an Ethical Professional Declining Morality? 1. We have eliminated many of the opportunities for the teaching of morals. 2. The community is not a cohesive force any longer. 3. The authority of religion is not as pervasive as it once was. 4. The family is weakening as a force of socialization. 5. Educators have abdicated their responsibility for moral instruction in favor of scientific neutrality. U.S. Leaders Acting Unethically • John Edwards, potential presidential nominee • Eliot Spitzer – Former New York governor, district attorney, and attorney general How Does One Become a Good Person? Deterministic Free Will/Agency • Biology • Religion • Psychology • Philosophy • Sociology • Criminology Fields of study seek to answer this question with free will acknowledged to greater or lesser degrees. Why do People Act Unethically? • Does biology play a role? - Nature? • Is modeling and/or reinforcement lacking? - Nurture? • Does it have to do with moral development? • Could it be a combination of things? Theories of Moral Development BIOLOGICAL FACTORS Behavior depends on an individual’s biological predispositions. LEARNING THEORIES Behavior depends on the rewards an individual has received. DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES Behavior depends on an individual’s intellectual and emotional stage of development, which in turn depends on their environment. Biological Theories Recent research suggests individuals may be predisposed to certain types of behavior due to the biology of their brains. Frontal Lobe Damage May result in increased impulsiveness, decreased attention span, difficulty in logical reasoning and following instructions, and antisocial behavior. Cortical Limbic Network • Structured event knowledge • Social perceptual and functional features • Central motive and emotional states Disruptions in the network can limit the ability to respond to ethical dilemmas. Sex Differences Inherited Trait • Men’s brains function differently than women’s. • Statistically, men are more likely to be antisocial, to have serious childhood conduct disorders, and to commit serious offenses. Socio-biology • Certain traits support the survival of the species • Moral “senses”: sympathy, fairness, self-control, and duty • Individual inheritance or group selection (evolution) • Morality seems to lie in the inferior parietal lobe (rationality) but also in the “emotion” center of the brain (amygdala) Learning Theories Premise: All human behavior is learned; therefore, ethics is a function of learning rather than reasoning. Modeling ▪ Imitating the behavior of others ▪ Parents and other adults provide role models for children through their behavior Reinforcement • A behavior that is rewarded will be repeated • After enough reinforcement, the behavior becomes permanent • The individual develops values consistent with the behavior (cognitive dissonance) Bandura: “Selective Disengagement” or Moral Restructuring Moral justification: Appeal to a higher end (e.g., terrorists who are fighting for a cause). Euphemistic labeling: Downplaying the seriousness of actions (e.g., “collateral damage”). Advantageous comparison: Act isn’t as bad as some others (e.g., “What was done at Abu Ghraib wasn’t as bad as what the insurgents did who cut off the heads of civilian contractors.”). Displacement of responsibility: Denies culpability (e.g., “I was only following orders.”) Diffusion of responsibility: Mob actions Distortion of the consequences: Misidentifying the consequences of one’s actions (e.g., CEO who gives the order to pollute merely requests that the problem be “taken care of”). Dehumanization: Process to strip the victim of any qualities of similarity that may create sympathy (e.g., the use of terms such as gooks, slant-eyes, pigs, wetbacks). Developmental Theories Premise: Moral development, like physical growth, occurs in stages. 1. They involve qualitative differences in modes of thinking, as opposed to quantitative differences. 2. Each stage forms a structured whole; cognitive development and moral growth are integrated. 3. Stages form an invariant sequence; no one bypasses any stage, and not all people develop to the higher stages. 4. Stages are hierarchical integrations. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Pre-Conventional Level Approach to moral issues motivated purely by personal interests. Stage 1: Punishment/Obedience Orientation Stage 2: Instrument/Relativity Orientation Conventional Level Approach to moral issues motivated by socialization. Stage 3: Interpersonal Concordance Orientation. Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Post-Conventional Level Approach to moral issues motivated by desire to discover universal good beyond own self or own society. Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation Stage 6: Universal Ethical Orientation Post-Post-Conventional Level Approach to moral issues moves beyond the human to a cosmic or religious level of awareness. Kohlberg only speculated that this stage might exist. Stage 7: Transcendental Orientation • Between 2003 – 2010, 129 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents were arrested on corruption charges. • Corrupt officers could earn up to $60K per day—the equivalent to a year’s salary • In 2009, it was reported that some Corruption at the Border Mexican smuggling cartels groom their workers to apply for border patrol jobs as a part of a long range plan to smuggle. • U.S. Border Patrol Agent Martha Garnica – Arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years after trying to recruit a fellow border agent into the racket of protecting smugglers Criticisms of Moral Development Theory • Justice/Western Bias: Stages center too much on the concept of justice, ignoring other aspects of morality. • Value Bias: Justice, rules, and rights are emphasized as higher values than caring and relationships. • Deontological Bias: The higher stages are based on deontological assumptions about universal ethical principles. • Rationality Bias: Emphasizes reason in moral decisions while ignoring emotional factors. • Gender Bias: Emphasizes traditionally “male” values and virtues. • Belief = Action?: Difficult to link reasoning levels with moral action in particular situations. Factors Necessary for Moral Growth • Encouragement to examine situations from other points of view • Exposure to individuals whose thinking is a stage higher than one’s own • Exposure to conflicts in moral reasoning that challenge one’s present stage • Engagement in logical thinking, such as reasoned argument and consideration of alternatives • Responsibility for making moral decisions and acting on them • Participation in creating and maintaining a just community Teaching Ethics (Sherman) ▪ Stimulate the "moral imagination" by posing difficult moral dilemmas. ▪ Encourage the recognition of ethical issues beyond immediate goals. ▪ Help to develop analytical skills and the tools of ethical analysis. ▪ Elicit a sense of moral obligation and personal responsibility. ▪ Explore the morality of coercion, which is intrinsic to criminal justice. ▪ Help students recognize the difference between technical and moral competence. ▪ Address the full range of moral issues in criminology and criminal justice. • An former U.S. lobbyist, businessman, movie producer, & writer. • Extensive corruption investigation that led to his conviction and to 21 persons either pleading or being found guilty. • After a guilty plea in the Indian lobbying scandal and his dealings with Sun Cruz Casinos in January 2006, he was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, and tax evasion. He served 43 months in prison and was released in 2010. • Wrote the book, Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Corruption From America's Most Notorious Lobbyist. • Since his release, he has taught ethics. Jack Abramoff Corruption Continuum • Indifference towards integrity. • Ignoring obvious ethical issues. • Creating a fear and hypocrisy dominated culture. • Maintaining a survival of the fittest environment by individual employees. Gardner’s Cognitive Capacities • The “disciplined mind”—the ability to focus and learn a field of study. • The “synthesizing mind”—the ability to integrate diverse ideas into a coherent whole. • The “creating mind”—the ability to recognize and solve problems. • The “respectful mind”—the ability to form and maintain good relationships with other people. • The “ethical mind”—the ability to fulfil one’s responsibilities as a citizen and to identify with fellow humans. How Leaders Can Foster Ethics (Metz) 1. Establish realistic goals and objectives. 2. Provide ethical leadership (set a moral tone by actions). 3. Establish formal written codes of ethics. 4. Provide a whistle blowing mechanism. 5. Discipline violators of ethical standards. 6. Train all personnel in ethics. Ethical Leadership • Strong leadership involves caring and commitment to the organization. • Idealistic realism: the ability of good leaders to acknowledge and understand social realities while avoiding the trap of cynicism. • Ethical leaders possess vision and moral responsibility and engage in enlightened reasoning. Thinking Point The police chief in Bell, California was under investigation for accepting a salary of $457,000 per year. Chief Randy Adam’s salary is double that of LAPD’s police chief Charlie Beck. The city of 40,000 consists of blue collar workers and has a higher than average poverty rate. Ethical Choices for Criminal Justice Professionals • Friendship vs. institutional (integrity/professionalism) • Client (offender) needs vs. bureaucratic efficiency and institutional goals. • Personal goals or biases vs. fair and impartial treatment of the public and the clients served. The inappropriate use of discretion occurs when the professional uses unethical criteria to resolve decisions. Avoiding Cynicism and Burnout 1. First, adopt realistic goals before entering the profession. 2. Second, find and nurture a network of mentors and colleagues that promotes ethical values. 3. Third, seek self-fulfillment and personal enrichment.
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