Introduction
Code of ethics cuts across all aspects of the workplace. It acts as a guideline in which employees are expected to maintain with clients and partners. Herein outlines consequences for behavioral violation with varying severity levels –major, minor and severe (Eckerd et al., 2013). Unlike the major ones that are more escalated, addressing minor violations with a written warning or an initial verbal. However, more strict consequences are suffered if these offenses are repeated frequently. Unexplained absences, unprofessional or inappropriate language with clients or colleagues are a few examples of minor violations.
Major violations such as abuse of power and misuse of resources are more significant and attract harsher penalties. Employees could be denied some privileges or stripped of some duties. Severe violations are terminable offenses, worse than the major ones. They result in a demotion if not firing the employee. Destroying property, sexual harassment, issuing physical threats are a few examples of severe violations of the conduct code. Thus, without the Code of Ethics, it would be impossible to lay bare the systematic approach to address violations in the workplace whenever they may occur. Below is an action plan to implement the Code of Ethics in the Small Town police department to create awareness, enforce methods for violations, and improve officers’ training.
Ethical Violations
Acting in a manner contrary to the set Code of Ethics outlined is a violation. According to a study done by Biermeier-Hanson and Coyle (2019), about 49% of employees have witnessed unethical conduct in the workplace yet do not report them. Colleagues are reluctant to note, especially when they are not able to do it anonymously. In law enforcement, numerous ethical issues arise, including the violation of municipal, provincial, or federal statutes. Some of these issues are not that simple to identify at times, and if specified, they are open to interpretation. Thus, having a critical perspective when dealing with such issues is vital in establishing whether they are ethical or unethical.
Police officers are required and expected to adhere to law enforcement ethics as outlined by the code of ethics written in 1957 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (Mize, 2019). One of the five ethical issues revolving around law enforcement is off-duty life. An officer is bound to a high standard that requires their integrity to be reflected by their personal lives. In other words, since they are always under public scrutiny, they must maintain a consistent professional image at all times. Moreover, their position of power is held by the trust earned from the public. Unlike other jobs that end when individuals clock out, police officers have to adhere to the law and maintain their social respect level at all times. Those with little respect for the badge or the law put them in a position of conflict with society.
Secondly, the 20 sworn police officers in Small Town indicate that they took an oath to uphold the law. Also, they bound themselves to defend an individual’s constitutional rights despite other times where this may seem contradictory. For instance, the drug laws and the drug wars create contradictions since officers are forced to act so that the state should have priority rather than the individual. When an individual is caught with marijuana, they could be imprisoned, pay fines, get dismissed from their job, lose their reputation in society, or even custody their children. In such a case, the right to life and liberty cannot be considered since they violate the law if they are not arrested and charged for the offense.
The use of necessary force is another ethical issue in law enforcement that holds law enforcement officers accountable for unnecessary force cases. The fact that police officers have the privilege to use necessary force at their disposal should not make them use it unjustly. Day in day out, officers are faced with this ethical issue that puts their lives on the line, especially when dealing with non-compliant individuals. Spontaneous decisions should be made in such situations with a balanced level, ensuring no misjudgment is made that would end up causing injury or death for the officer. Doliński (2017) cited the Milgram experiment in their research and pointed out that the individual’s perception of loss of freedom will cause a reaction to officers. Officers may escalate into a stressful and coercive environment, forcing them to use unnecessary force.
Impartially acting is another requirement of the code of conduct under the oath that police officers are expected to uphold. Ideally, many challenges are posed in various real-world scenarios. Officers based in small towns and local settings face this challenge since they handle the same crowds throughout their careers. For instance, an officer may know where local drug houses are located yet without sufficient evidence to work on the case. In as much as following the law is mandatory, there is a limitation to uphold it if specific procedures are to be followed.
Lastly, officers should critically use their judgment and discretion in determining the best course of action to take in different cases. Profiling, since the early days, has been a vital aspect of policing. Modern-day society, however, is exhibiting stereotypes and unfitting assumptions that end up in unfair ethical or racial profiling of cases. When time is should take limited and quick action, officers have split seconds to assess some situations without breaking down the belief systems imposed by the society that acts as a radar for their conscious behavior. All in all, law enforcement officers are pushed to set their life standards higher than most in society.
Consequences of Violations
Violation of the code of ethics leads to consequences that are dealt with accordingly about the document itself. In light of the binding oath taken by Small Town’s sworn officers, several ethical violations contradict what they signed themselves into it. Despite making critical decisions, police officers are accountable for their actions under the law. The central focus should be to respect an individual’s rights throughout the policing process. Law enforcement plays a vital role in emergency management in responding and searching, rescue, and recovery efforts.
Depending on the nature of the emergency, logistical challenges could arise in emergency management. In Small Town, however, longer response times to emergency calls are not brought by such challenges but rather negligence. Police officers are expected to go beyond an extra step for the people they serve, whether they on duty or not. Failure to adhere to the law requirements and consider upholding it by giving the state a high priority and minding others’ welfare is contradictory to the code of ethics. As stated earlier, police officers are expected to be guided by the law and maintain a high level of respect at all times. Attending personal duties at the expense of urgent ones that are a matter of life and death is clear proof of negligence.
Racial profiling is not strange as it has been witnessed on news coverage on TVs, personal testimonies, etc. For quite a long time, people of color have been subject to racial profiling in public or private spaces. Not long ago, two, when Starbucks store in Philadelphia hit the news headlines after two black men were arrested for no apparent reason. The officers displayed vividly the stereotype that leads to profiling decisions made with no solid ground. Many people said that such incidents not only happen at Starbucks. Officer Frank, who racially profiles all minorities driving, acts contrary to the law, which is very unethical. According to Golden and Womack (2016), there has been a tense relationship between people of color and law enforcement officers. It is not uncommon that police use unnecessary force and shootings triggered by racial bias.
Double-dipping and bribery is a violation of misdemeanor theft by deception and oath by public officers. This violation tarnishes the image of the individual in offense and the police department at large. Taking bribes from drug deals is unlawful for it embraces the misuse and abuse of drugs and narcotics in society. In 2018, the Richmond County deputy was fired after being charged with double-dipping (WJBF, 2018). After a thorough investigation, investigators discovered that he took payments from a local club while on duty.
Creating Awareness for the Code of Ethics
Acting ethically is always right, but it does get easy all the time. Deciding on two or more competing ethical principle and values need prioritization that conforms the set of standards. Core values such as good citizenship, responsibility, trustworthiness, caring, fairness, and respect act as the basis of ethical decision-making that provides a firm foundation for good workplace practices. Employees should know the importance of these core values to uphold public trust and be accountable for resources serving as responsible citizenship examples. More to this, employees should also be aware of the consequences of unethical behaviors.
Bearing in mind that almost half of the employees are reluctant to report unethical acts in the workplace, it is vital to establish anonymous hotlines to remedy this challenge. Companies usually present a document they term as a code of conduct or ethics when asked about their core values. On the other hand, research suggests a potential disconnect between the intentions stated and the degree to which they value ethical behavior (Abdolmohammadi, 2017). Embedding corporate ethics and ensuring their effectiveness calls for establishing communication and awareness campaigns that are a continuous process that never ends.
Creating awareness for the code of ethics is one of the ways institutions cultivate a culture of ethics. Good internal controls should emphasize, for they set the tone for what the organizations stand for. Creating effective control environments embraces a culture that upholds competence, ethical values, and integrity to the staff members and faculty. By telling people what they will expect of them through practical examples and repeating the message more often emphasizes the essence of promoting an ethical environment, whether on or off-duty. Leaders should set the bar of ethical standards high with practical examples that junior and subordinate staff members should follow.
Enforcement Methods
Enforcing effective methods is another way of cultivating a culture of ethics in the workplace. As the Small Town Police Department’s police chief, I would ensure proper training and enforcement. Engaging and raising awareness of ethical decision-making through communication supports an environment that embraces the culture of taking action against wrongdoing. Conducting meetings, open discussions, and simple surveys to address some challenges through the employee feedback and the given input. Such practices would provide an apparent oversight after breaking down the key challenges or factors leading them not to uphold the ethical guidelines stipulated under oath taken.
Again, keeping a constant communication of the importance of upholding ethical behavior and consequences of violations would remind officers of the oath they took. Monitoring and accountability of the department’s operations in which the public can act and raise concerns should be considered. Having an anonymous helpline, for instance, would give confidence to anyone who would like to report unlawful, unsafe, or unethical practices for good governance. Such an implementation provides the staff members of the public trust to raise issues without fear of retribution. Analyzing the queries raised by breaking down the reports would enlighten the department on how to take action when wrongdoing occurs. With the civilian support personnel, the police officers should be aware of the procedures in place that are employed in managing ethical misconduct effectively.
Since it is unethical for a police officer to attend to personal businesses failing to respond in time to 911 calls, the IT department should present a detailed monthly report of the CCTV footage surveillance and car track data. Also, the IT department should analyze information by employing data mining algorithms to detect inconsistencies in the data that point out unusual behavior for further monitoring. Officers will be required to submit a detailed report of their off-duty work once every fortnight to avoid double-dipping scandals. Every assignment of duties must come via the department. Businesses will be paying officers in cheque form and avoid using cash for easier accountability. The 20 sworn officers will be authorized to work on a maximum of two jobs for more effortless follow-up.
The officers should also be aware of the consequences of violating the code of ethics, including being put in probation periods, suspension, lawsuit, demotion, or losing their jobs after several verbal and written warnings. Conversely, to promote ethical behavior, there will be rewards for outstanding officers with solid ethical practices. Laying out such incentives encourages employees to go beyond their interests aside, which is diligently serving the public, doing what is best for the state. There will be a challenge between the employees by having an organizational culture with an atmosphere of proper ethical behavior. Successful organizations invest their time and resource in training employees about professional ethics to teach them the importance of upholding integrity. Training officers make it clear not only to them but also the society at large that professional behavior is a must. By ethically conducting themselves, police officers dealing with Small Town people would automatically depict a good reputation of the whole department at large. Society should, in turn, have the mindset that the police department cannot compromise the high standards set in place by the ethical code when one violates the law.
Organizations should base their training session after knowing what in specific the employees need. The organization should articulate the workplace culture by creating a unified organizational identity and setting common realistic goals in a stipulated timeframe. Thus, training should be offered by the organization to them in a manner they want. Regular updates or changes to compliance laws should be considered, preferably via microlearning options, to deliver the information in a convenient and timely manner. Leaders should be fully involved for others to follow the set example and commitment from the very beginning.
As the police chief, instructor-led and eLearning training are the two options, I would enforce. Both of these have their advantages and limitations. Combining them would bridge the gap and complement each other in their different capacities. Using eLearning, the officers would complete training and activities on their schedules with additional online materials if need be. Instructor-led training sessions will match some topics that eLearning cannot address exhaustively. Employees, for instance, can ask questions for further clarifications in such training, which can break off into role-playing or brainstorming groups. The employees can do topics one at a time in e-learning in concise and well-organized chunks to discourage skimming or scanning.
Ethical Behavior Assessment
The assessment below will measure an officer’s ethical behavior in the future and see whether the enforcement methods and training are bringing significant change.
1. Does the organization’s Code of Ethics reflect your obligation?
2. Does the organization communicate its Code of Ethics? If yes, by whom and how?
3. Are your reports monitored and verified? If yes, by whom and how?
4. Does the organization offer training sessions on ethical conduct? If yes, how often?
5. Is this highlighted in the ongoing training?
6. Are you familiar with the categories of ethical information outlined in the Code of Ethics? If yes, are there any omissions?
7. Are officers disciplined/rewarded regarding ethical behavior?
8. Is there someone responsible for gathering and analyzing data on ethical performance information?
9. Do you know the steps to take when confronted with a situation that challenges your ethical standards?
10. Have you made any effort to improve your skills in understanding the Code of Ethics? If yes, what other professional development would benefit you?
Conclusion
Ethical violations happen when the Code of Ethics governing an organization or company is contradicted. Colleagues are reluctant to report, especially when they are not able to do it anonymously. The officer is bound to a high standard that requires their integrity to be reflected by their personal lives since they are always under public scrutiny and must maintain a consistent professional image at all times.
Creating awareness for the code of ethics is one of the ways institutions cultivate a culture of ethics. It is very vital to establish anonymous hotlines as a remedy to this challenge. Companies usually present a document they term as a code of conduct or ethics when asked about their core values. By telling people what is expected of them through practical examples and repeating the message more often emphasizes the essence of promoting an ethical environment, whether on or off-duty. Constant communication of the importance of upholding ethical behavior and consequences of violations would remind officers of the oath they took. Instructor-led and eLearning training are the two options I would enforce by combining their advantages and minimizing the limitations in different capacities.
Introduction
Code of ethics cuts across all aspects of the workplace. It acts as a guideline in which employees
are expected to maintain with clients an
d partners. Herein outlines consequences for behavioral violation
with varying severity lev
els
–
major, minor and severe (Eckerd et al., 2013). Unlike the major ones that
are more escalated, addressing minor violations with a written warning or an initial v
erbal. However,
more strict consequences are suffered if these offenses are repeated freque
ntly. Unexplained absences,
unprofessional or inappropriate language with clients or colleagues are a few examples of minor
violations.
Major violations s
uch as abuse of power and misuse of resources are more significant and attract
harsher penalties. Empl
oyees could be denied some privileges or stripped of some duties. Severe
violations are terminable offenses, worse than the major ones. They result in a d
emotion if not firing the
employee. Destroying property, sexual harassment, issuing physical threats a
re a few examples of severe
violations of the conduct code.
Thus,
without the Code of Ethics, it would be impossible to lay bare the
systematic approach to
address violations in the workplace whenever they may occur. Below is an action
plan to implement the
Code of Ethics in the
Small
Town
police department to create awareness, enforce
methods for violations, and improve officers’ training.
Ethical Violation
s
Acting in a manner contrary to the set Code of Ethics outlined is a violation. According to a
study
done by Biermeier
–
Hanson
and
Coyle (2019), about 49% of employees have witnessed unethical
conduct in the workplace yet do not report them.
Colleagues are reluctant to note, especially when they
are not able to do it anonymously. In law enforcement, num
erous ethical issues arise, including the
violation of municipal, provincial, or federal statutes. Some of these issues are not that simple to
identify
Introduction
Code of ethics cuts across all aspects of the workplace. It acts as a guideline in which employees
are expected to maintain with clients and partners. Herein outlines consequences for behavioral violation
with varying severity levels –major, minor and severe (Eckerd et al., 2013). Unlike the major ones that
are more escalated, addressing minor violations with a written warning or an initial verbal. However,
more strict consequences are suffered if these offenses are repeated frequently. Unexplained absences,
unprofessional or inappropriate language with clients or colleagues are a few examples of minor
violations.
Major violations such as abuse of power and misuse of resources are more significant and attract
harsher penalties. Employees could be denied some privileges or stripped of some duties. Severe
violations are terminable offenses, worse than the major ones. They result in a demotion if not firing the
employee. Destroying property, sexual harassment, issuing physical threats are a few examples of severe
violations of the conduct code. Thus, without the Code of Ethics, it would be impossible to lay bare the
systematic approach to address violations in the workplace whenever they may occur. Below is an action
plan to implement the Code of Ethics in the Small Town police department to create awareness, enforce
methods for violations, and improve officers’ training.
Ethical Violations
Acting in a manner contrary to the set Code of Ethics outlined is a violation. According to a
study done by Biermeier-Hanson and Coyle (2019), about 49% of employees have witnessed unethical
conduct in the workplace yet do not report them. Colleagues are reluctant to note, especially when they
are not able to do it anonymously. In law enforcement, numerous ethical issues arise, including the
violation of municipal, provincial, or federal statutes. Some of these issues are not that simple to identify
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