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Maintaining Ethical Standards And Preventing Unethical Acts The best predictor of future behavior is past conduct. This is true when applied to individuals, organizations or professions. No law enforcement agency can truly be said to be immune from law enforcement officers who violate their badge and their oath by taking advantage of their positions of authority. Even as many departments have taken steps to reduce corruption and other forms of dishonor, new scandals continue to emerge on a regular basis. In order to discuss the importance of ethical behavior by law enforcement officers, it is first necessary to define what one means by the term, "ethical behavior." According to Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, ethical behavior is defined as "behavior conforming to accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a profession." There is nothing new about officer corruption and it is probably true that precinct-level graft from bookies, pimps and other underworld types is less prevalent today than it was 50 or 60 years ago. Michael Dowd made no secret of his criminal activities. Dowd, a member of NYPD's Men in Blue, spent many hours in his jail cell as the Mollen Commission on Police Corruption started a two year investigation into police corruption in the NYPD. Dowd used his shield to promote a major drug enterprise in exchange for weekly cash payments 10 times greater than his $400.00 paycheck. He snorted cocaine off the dashboard of his patrol car, and drank heavily while on duty; he and his "crew" of cops stole money, drugs and other valuables, conducted unlawful searches and seizures, committed perjury and used their nightsticks and fist for profits, thrills and "vigilante justice." The open exploits of Dowd and other corrupt cops told us as much about the failures of the department's commanders as they did about its rogue officers. From the top brass down to the patrol officer, willful blindness was often the norm. And New York may not be alone. Police experts across the country have described a similar reluctance among police departments to uncover unethical acts. Cases from New Orleans, Philadelphia, Newark, NJ, Alabama, Dallas, Louisville, KY and even the Federal level of law enforcement, have surfaced in the news media and bringing dishonor to the badge is alive and well in many departments What Can Be Done To Help Prevent Unethical Acts Within Departments? It starts with training from day one at the academy and new recruits. Most law enforcement academies spend between 2 and 4 hours on the subject of ethics and 2 to 4 hours on the subject of stress. These two subjects are closely related. In stressful situations an officer reacts the way he or she was trained. But sometimes the officer will commit an unethical act to meet their needs. Training in the areas of ethics and stress must be on going for every officer from the top down through the ranks. Leaders must play an active role in providing communication, training, and a no nonsense policy when it comes to ethical standards within an agency. Developing and implementing an ethics transformation demands a total commitment from the department's leadership. We should approach ethics as a process... not a problem of "Bad Cops." |
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