Police and Their Rules of Office - An Ethical Analysis (From Police Ethics - Hard Choices in Law Enforcement, P 3-24, 1985, by William C Heffernan and Timothy Stroup, eds. - See NCJ-100351)

• NCJ Number: 100352
• Author(s): W C Heffernan
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; John Jay Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-100351.

Annotation

Using an ethical perspective, this essay assesses police justifications for illegal searches and seizures, illegal stops and frisks, and selective law enforcement.

Abstract

Police officers promise to enforce the law and comply with laws that limit police power. Officers justify illegal searches and seizures under the claim that criminals must be brought to justice by whatever means. Selective enforcement of the law may also involve an officer's determining who should and should not be punished for law violations. In these cases, a police officer presumes to usurp the court's assigned responsibility to determine who is and is not guilty of law violations. An officer must always comply with laws that protect citizens' privacy rights and arrest all persons where there is probable cause that a crime has been committed. Stops and frisks have been justified by officers as a means to maintain social order and prevent crime; however, this involves interfering with the privacy and freedom of a citizen, which undermines the law's promise to citizens. Officers selectively decide not arrest people for minor law violations in order to use their time more cost effectively to promote social order, but such discretion should not be left completely to officers. Both statute and departmental policy should specify procedures for making such decisions. 19 notes.