NCJ Number
182943
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 67 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 16-27
Date Published
January 2000
Length
10 pages
Annotation
After analyzing factors that can lead to unethical and illegal police behavior in law enforcement, this article suggests ways in which police administrators can create an agency environment in which ethical police behavior is cultivated.
Abstract
The article begins by discussing how a single-minded commitment to "getting the job done" can lead to a disregard for the means used to achieve law enforcement objectives of increasing arrests and reducing crime. The competing ethical and moral concerns involved in this "ends-over-means" dilemma are examined from the perspective of conflicting role expectations. Next, the theory of systematic socialization of police officers is profiled, based on the writings of Van Maanen. Under this theory the socialization of new police officers to unethical practices occurs through the observation of and interaction with peers who use unethical methods to handle incidents, solve problems, and react to events. The difficulties of traditional management approaches in controlling unethical police behavior is then reviewed, and an alternative managerial approach for controlling police behavior through the cultivation and management of an ethics-based police culture is presented. Four strategies are described for laying the foundation for a healthy ethical environment within police agencies: value-based leadership, formal code of ethics, perpetual ethics edification, and personnel innovations. 36 notes