Emerging Ethical Issues for Line Officers Copyright © 2001 by David L. Carter. All rights Reserved. David L. Carter, Ph.D. School of Criminal Justice 560 Baker Hall Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan UNITED STATES OF AMERICA /Fax: Ethics and Policing

Police Deviance: Issues  Racial Profiling  Abuse of Authority  Excessive Force  Lying  Sexual Misconduct  Theft  Alcohol/Drug Abuse  Deliberate Misfeasance

RACIAL PROFILING What is it?  “Any police-initiated action that relies upon the race, ethnicity, or national origin of an individual rather than the behavior of that individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being engaged in or having been engaged in criminal activity.” Ramirez, D.A., J. McDevitt and A. Farrell. (2000). A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems. Unpublished report. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice.

 “The tragic killing of Amadou Diallo, shot 41 times by four New York City police officers, has focused attention on police brutality. This attention has revealed the police practice of racial profiling, which includes stopping and searching people--mostly blacks and Latinos- -because they fit a certain ‘profile’ ”. Tony Newman, USA Today Are profiles being used properly and responsibly? Do the benefits of the profile outweigh the liabilities? RACIAL PROFILING The Issue

RACIAL PROFILING Does it exist? CONTINUUM OF RACIAL PROFILING No Racial Profiling by Police Insidious, Intentional Use of Racial Profiling by Police Profiling Subjectively Used in Conjunction With Others Factors to Make A Pretext Stop Race/Ethnicity Used as Part of a Known Description to Stop a Person Most cases fall within this region where it could be debated whether profiling exists and, if so, whether it was done so consciously

RACIAL PROFILING Issues  Officers’ use of pretext stops  Inwardly looking to determine if race/ethnicity is a factor in officer behavior  If the department is collecting traffic stop data… >Are officers “fixing” their statistics? >Are officers decreasing their activity in response to the policy?  How does the department defend against accusations of racial profiling?

Abuse of Authority  Legal  Verbal (psychological)  Physical

Excessive Force  Individual police excessive force is a often a product of… + Immaturity + Fear + Poor decision making  Institutionalized brutality is a by-product of: + Poor training + Peer support + Lax/incompetent supervision

Lying  Falsifying Reports  Falsifying Evidence  Cover-ups  Lying in Court

Sexual Misconduct  The patrol car has been referred to as a “rolling bedroom” due to its heavy use for sleeping on duty and illicit sexual encounters  Sexual Bribery/extortion  Sexual liaisons  Voyeurism

Crimes for Profit  Theft of Property  Bribery  Extortion

Alcohol/Drug Abuse  Drinking on duty is more common than most people suspect.  Drug abuse among police officers has been a growing concern for over a decade.  Officers have ready access to both alcohol and drugs.

Deliberate Misfeasance  Sleeping on Duty  Shirking Duty

Inculcating Ethical Behavior  For ethical behavior, several standards must exist: >Selecting the right people >Socialization and training >Effective supervision >Follow-up on allegations of impropriety >Swift and sure consequences for improper behavior >Integrity-based leadership >Creation of an environment for which professional virtues are expected

The Ethical Environment  Ethical behavior requires more than: >Articulated values >A prescription to abide by ethical principles >Periodic training courses  It requires vigilant adherence to ethical standards as second nature in all tasks officers perform