Transcript Slide 1

Central Police University
- Ethics in Policing By:
Terry Gingerich, Ph.D.
Western Oregon University
What is ethics?
• Ethics is a set of moral principles or values that
govern and define right and wrong behavior,
either of an individual or a group.
• Today we will discuss applied ethics, which is the
study of those action that constitute right and
wrong behavior in certain situations.
• To be more specific, we will concentrate on what
is generally referred to as professional ethics, a
subfield of applied ethics.
What is ethics?
• Professional ethics concerns the behavior of a certain
profession or group, in this case police officers.
(Pollock-Byrne, 1989:2)
• It centers around personal integrity.
• I don’t think that anything I say here today will be new
to you, its simply an opportunity to reinforce our
commitment to professional policing.
What is personal Integrity?
• Personal integrity is “sincere devotion to
honesty, justice, and goodness.”
• “It implies rigid adherence to a personal code
of conduct and, conversely, failure to adhere
to that code indicates lack of integrity.”
(Building Integrity and Reducing Drug Corruption in Police
Departments, BJA, 1992)
Law Enforcement
Oath of Honor
On my honor, I will never
betray my badge, my integrity,
my character or the public trust.
I will always have the courage to hold
myself and others accountable for our actions.
I will always uphold the constitution,
my community and the agency I serve.
International Association of Chiefs of Police
Taiwan’s Government Employee
Ethics Units and Officers
• According to Article 3 of the Act on the Establishment
of the Government Employee Ethics Units and Officers,
the MOJ is the Competent Authority of government
ethics operations in the nation.
• The MOJ has set up a department specifically for
planning, supervision, and evaluation.
• Under the MOJ, there are government employee ethics
units operating in central and local government
agencies and state-run enterprises at all levels.
Public Trust and Public Servants
• Holding public office in a democracy is a public trust.
Consequently, we often refer to individuals working in
government as “public servants.”
• Police officers are the most visible “public servant” of
government, and we place a great deal of authority
and responsibility in their hands.
• It’s a “servant-master” relationship and we expect that
police officers will not betray that trust.
Trust and Betrayal
• Edwin Delattre (2006:39), a noted scholar in
applied ethics, stated that, “We believe that
those we trust will treat our interests and feelings
as though they were their own.”
• He added that few disappoints run deeper than
that of misplaced trust and betrayal.
• Think of those moments in our own lives when
we have betrayed a trust (none of us are infallible)
or have been betrayed.
Responsibilities and Professionalism
• To build and sustain public trust a department’s
leadership must establish, practice, support, and
perpetuate ethical administration and demand
ethical conduct from every employee.
• In fact, every police officer is obligated to the
public, the department, and his/her fellow
employee to establish, practice, support, and
perpetuate ethical conduct.
• Professionals have no other options.
Character and Reputation
• Every institution or organization has a reputation that is
drawn from the collective character of its members and their
interaction with society.
• For example, Taiwan’s Tzu Chi Charity organization has an
international reputation for helping people in time of need.
As you know, its name comes from one of its tenets: Every
heart is capable of "priceless, great love.“
• While the NPA’s mission is different than Tzu Chi, its
reputation rests on the collective character of its members, a
character that is capable of “priceless, great love” in service to
the citizens of Taiwan.
Character and Reputation
“Public Perception of Police Performance in Taiwan, 1945-2009”
Gingerich, Chu, and Chang (2010, under review)
Year
Low/
Serious
High/
No Opinion
Not Serious
Source
N
3.1 Do you believe police corruption is a serious problem in Taiwan?
2006
48.8%
39.3%
11.9%
N-1972
TSCS
1966-1987
75.3%
11.7%
12.5%
N-264
PPPS
1945-1965
46.4%
4.5%
39.0%
N-264
PPPS
3.2 Do you believe police demonstrate high or low levels of trustworthiness?
2007
25%
75%
Data:
Gallop
Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS)
Public Perceptions of Police Survey (PPPS)
0%
Gallop
Unk.
“Public Perception of Police Performance in Taiwan, 1945-2009”
Gingerich, Chu, and Chang (2010, under review)
“Public Perception of Police Performance in Taiwan, 1945-2009”
Gingerich, Chu, and Chang (2010, under review)
Hypotheses About Corruption
Hypotheses
Explanation
• Society-at-Large Hypothesis
• Society expects “favors” from
the police & offer gratuities to
receive them (social custom).
• Structural or Affiliation
Hypothesis
• Cultural influences within the
department make it
acceptable (organizational
culture)
• Rotten-Apple Hypothesis
• A disposition toward
corruption by individual
officers
However, one hypothesis alone is too simple to
explain the causes of police corruption
Society’s
expectations
Individual
disposition
Organizational
culture
Questions that should be asked about corruption:
• Did the officer act alone?
• Did others know, but remain silent?
• Did the officer believe that if others knew they would remain silent?
• Did it begin with apparently harmless and well-intended acts?
• Is it a one time event or did it evolve to a pattern and practice?
• Is an assuredness of punishment lacking?
• Are internal controls lacking?
How to reduce or prevent corruption
• Reduce “rotten apples” through high standards of
recruitment and training
• Effective leadership
• Individual accountability
• Systematic investigation of complaints
• Establish common purpose and moral ideas among
command and line personnel
Potential threats to the NPA:
Drug offences reported by the MOJ
Year
New drug cases
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1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
40,249
57,139
44,887
32,788
37,057
45,935
56,167
82,981
93,824
70,716
56,207
54,341
68,713
85,970
76,068
86,281
83,187
It has been my honor to present this lecture
THANK YOU