Ethics and Code of Conduct
Three Reasons Ethic and Integrity Will Be Important In My Future Career Choice
Integrity and ethics are crucial aspects in the development of any career, especially since they are metrics for measuring the honesty and consistency of a person to maintain firm moral and ethical principals in an organization. Ethics means discipline dealing with good and evil and with moral duty. Integrity means acting to a code of values which displays good character, honesty and honour. As an upcoming law enforcement officer, my fundamental responsibility is to support and reinforce the highest personal standards of policing by observing ethics and integrity during work. These two virtues are valuable in my career, mainly because a good or reliable ethical conduct significantly impacts the general public trust. Besides, practising integrity as a law enforcement officer ensures I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without favour, or with ill intentions, and without fear. This is important because I believe every case requires to be treated with integrity despite the client’s race, age and sex; each case, therefore, deserves a fair chance. Ethics and integrity in law enforcement equally ensure that set objectives and goals in an agency are achieved in the right manner, thus meeting set standards of professional performance.
Two Aspects Which Ethics, Morality, and Law Differ
One key aspect that has shown the lack of ethic, morality and law is the use of excessive force and discrimination, especially by local law enforcement officers. From my city, for instance, officers in Columbus have been associated with using force, particularly against black suspects. Young African American men are discriminated and stereotyped as possible suspects of drug dealing and drug abuse. This form of stereotyping and the use of unnecessary force betrays the law enforcement code of ethics. Another aspect that might limit ethic, morality and law is when police officers act impartially, especially when they have information that may lead to an arrest but lacks court approval to pursue the case.
Two Ways Enforcement Officers Should Uses Ethics, Morality and Code Of Conduct In Both Their Professional And Personal Lives.
It is essential for police officers to practice the use of ethic, morality and code of conduct in their personal lived besides there day to day work. This is important because the public scrutinizes a law enforcement officer despite being off duty or on duty. Law enforcement officers that are off the clock are expected to follow the laws and treat everyone the same while observing the same code of conduct they use professionally at home. Besides, when performing personal activities which are not for official use, it is wise to follow set regulations to set an exemplary example to the public(The AICP). While at work it is important to apply critical thinking especially in difficult situations to avoid breaking set ethics. The ethical decision making process requires an officer to act officiously without involving personal feelings and friendships or individual political beliefs.
Two important aspects of the code of conduct in Columbus that relate to law enforcement activities in Georgia is exhibiting discipline by refraining from using excessive, punitive or coercive force (City of Columbus). This relates to activities involving handling suspects and criminals. Another code of conduct in Columbus is exhibiting integrity by being truthful, transparent and accountable in all matters (City of Columbus). This applies when reporting criminal cases and conducting investigations. When conducting law enforcement activities officers are required to refer to the given code of conducts by the police department to avoid incriminating themselves or tarnishing the departments reputation.
Work Cited
“City of Columbus.” Division Directives, www.columbus.gov/police-divisiondirectives/.
The IACP. (n.d) Accessed on 29th April 2020 from https://www.theiacp.org/resources/law-enforcement-code-of-ethics