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Name
Professor
Law: Police Ethics Crisis in Law Enforcement
2nd August 2018

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POLICE ETHICS CRISIS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
Introduction
Police and law enforcement are two inseparable terms that are mutually exclusive, yet
this seems to be coming to an abrupt end. For many decades, we the ordinary citizens rely on the
police for protection and to safeguard our rights. The police have been granted more power with
minimal oversight to carry out their duties effectively. However, the police have ended up
infringing the rights of those who depend on them to protect them and engaging in malpractices
that compromise the same values they are meant to protect. In the 19th century, there were
massive efforts undertaken by the American government intended to reform the police
department (Walker 1977). The reforms were aimed to create accountability and prevent the
police from misusing their power to oppress the public. However, those vices seem to be
creeping back with even more vigor. Since back in the 19th century, lack of police confidence
has been a repetitive cycle, and it will continue being so unless immediate and drastic measures
are undertaken to cab this crisis before it ends up becoming a menace to the entire society.
Historical Background
Back in the 19th century, the police force experienced massive shortcomings that
threatened the future of the society. According to (Walker 1977), there was widespread police
brutality and corruption in the police department in the nineteenth century. To solve this, the
government undertook drastic measures which included massive reforms. These reforms
included the introduction of new management structures, new policies, new forms of oversight
and accountability, training and introduction of technology. These measures played an enormous
role in mitigating the crisis then and reducing corruption to a great extent. However, with the

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passage of time, these vices have managed to creep back to the police force and threaten the
national law enforcement process.
Police Ethics Crisis in Law Enforcement
Police ethics is a vital part of our society and which we should aim to uphold and
safeguard at all costs. The police department has failed the citizens significantly in many ways.
First, abuse of power is one of the most significant challenges that has made headlines for a long
time. Don L. Kooken believed that the government had overstated its mandate and granted police
officers more power excepting them from some laws. “…unless policemen were exempted from
obedience to certain laws and regulations they would be seriously encumbered in the effective
discharge of their duties” (Kooken 1948). In 1995, Smith rose to speak against police brutality in
his journal "How reasonable is the reasonable man" Smith 1995, depicts the police officer as
applying an unreasonable amount of force to solve issues that would otherwise require little
force. Smith also criticized the citizens as they expect the police to deal with matters
aggressively whereas show restraint when they are personally involved. A more recent report by
Garner et al. 2018 revealed that 85% of the police officers used in the survey confessed using
excessive force to combat crime and social evils. It is essential that police officers regulate the
amount of force applied to solve issues and employ critical reasoning in making a judgment.
Excessive use of force could be detrimental to the society as a whole since it instigates fear
among individuals and goes against the freedom and rights as provided for in the constitution.
Secondly, corruption among police officers. In the 19th century, corruption in the police
force threatened to tear the country apart making the people lose confidence in the police force
(Walker 1977). However, the reforms that were undertaken played a significant part in
mitigating the vice in the society, yet some of the police officers have secretly adopted the

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corruption culture at the expense of the citizens' well-being. Klookars et al. (2006) perceive
police integrity as "a normative inclination of police officers to resist the temptations to abuse the
rights and privileges of their occupant." According to McCafferty (1998), police officers yield a
lot of power and are also capable of depriving citizens of their rights. Police officers may misuse
their power and force the lawbreakers to pay a bribe and in turn get away with breaking laws. An
investigation of the Chicago Police Department 1976, revealed that there are several types of
corruption which include; mooching, chiseling, favoritism, prejudice, shopping, extortion,
shakedown, bribery, and perjury. Corruption in the police force is like a viper that tears us down
slowly piece by piece and which goes against the ...