NCJ Number
207091
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 71 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2004 Pages: 76,79,81
Date Published
August 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
As a means of upgrading professional ethics in policing, this article advocates "shared responsibility," which means that every officer involved in a police action is responsible for how the action is handled, including intervening when another officer is acting unethically or in noncompliance with established departmental policies.
Abstract
Although civilian oversight of the police is an important aspect of developing public trust that complaints against police are handled in an unbiased manner, professional ethics requires that police agencies and their personnel care enough about how they perform their duties that they develop policies and engage in actions that not only detect and address unethical conduct but also pursue measures that prevent it. Such self-policing has typically involved police supervisors using various means to detect and remedy front-line officer misconduct. A better approach is to prevent misconduct by cultivating the concept of "shared responsibility." This concept is part of Wisconsin's basic police training curriculum. This approach builds upon the long-standing tradition of officers acting to protect and help one another in situations of physical danger. Under the concept of shared responsibility, this practice is extended to watchfulness in helping fellow officers who are in "ethical danger." Loyalty to a fellow officer is viewed as preventing a partner from doing something that could ruin his/her career or even place the officer in jeopardy of committing a crime. No matter how laudable this concept may sound, however, both supervisors and officers may object to it as encouraging officers to inform on one another, which is not likely to happen. Three strategies are the key to implementing "shared responsibility" in an agency: a focus on preventing unethical conduct, such that informing on a fellow officer does not become an issue; providing training that makes clear what shared responsibility involves; and leading by example, not only in ethical behavior but in constructive support for officers who are facing ethical dilemmas and conflicts.