PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS

1. PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS • TCLEOSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES 07/28/04

2. OBJECTIVES • Unit Goal: 3.1. Understand and respect professionalism as it applies to law enforcement. • 3.1.1. Discuss the concept of professionalism. • 3.1.2. Discuss the characteristics of professionalism. • Unit Goal: 3.2. Understand and accept the crucial role of ethics as related to professionalism. • 3.2.1. Discuss the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. • 3.2.2. Discuss ethical dilemmas in law enforcement. • Unit Goal: 3.3. Understand the civil and criminal laws related to unethical behavior of peace officers. • 3.3.1. Discuss Title 8 of the Texas Penal Code in relationship to an officer's behavior. • 3.3.2. Explain relevant federal criminal law in relationship to an officer’s behavior. • Unit Goal: 3.3.3. List civil penalties for sexual harassment and inappropriate officer conduct.

3. Unit Goal: 3.1. • To understand and respect professionalism as it applies to law enforcement.

4. 3.1.1. Discuss the concept of professionalism.

5. Definitions • Its earliest meaning comes from those professing the vows of a religious order. It meant the act of professing. • By 1675 the term was secularized.

6. The Oxford English Dictionary offers the following definition of profession: • "The occupation which one professes to be skilled in and to follow. A vocation in which professed knowledge of some branch of learning is used in its application to the affairs of others, or in the practice of an art based upon it. Applied specifically to the three learned professions of divinity, law, and medicine; also the military profession."

7. In the Oxford English Dictionary, • a professional is one who is "engaged in one of the learned or skilled professions, or in a calling considered socially superior to a trade or handicraft."

8. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary offers this definition of profession: • "A vocation or occupation requiring advanced training in some liberal art or science, and usually involving • mental rather than manual work, as teaching, engineering, writing, etc.; especially, medicine, law, or theology • (formerly called the learned professions)."

9. Professionals profess to know better than others the nature of their specialty, and to know what is best for their client in this specialty. • Source: Hughes, Everett C. (1965). Professions. In Kenneth S. Lynn, ed., The professions in America. Houghton Mifflin Co.: Boston.

10. "Every calling is great when greatly pursued."Oliver Wendell Holmes

11. Did you know! • The best way to understand the concept of professionalism is to think of occupations differing as to the degree that they are professional. The degree to which an occupation meets the definition of "profession" should be assessed by measuring the occupation on certain key characteristics. • It also follows that individuals will vary as to their compatibility with the characteristics and qualities of professionalism.

12. 3.1.2. Discuss the characteristics of professionalism.

13. CHARACTERISTICS • Service to others • Assessment of client needs • Theoretical body of knowledge obtained through extended preservice education • Standards for entry, practice, and ethical conduct • Professional association to maintain standards • Continuing education and life long learning • Source: Houle, Cyril O. (1981). Continuing learning in the professions. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.

14. Misuses of the term: • Many confuse professionalism with an image of the officer who is cool and aloof showing no feeling, with a crisp uniform, shined shoes, reflective sunglasses, using high technology as an expert at fighting criminals.

15. The value of the professional model for law enforcement.

16. Advantages • Public or Client better served • Quality of peace officers is improved • Ethical conduct • More effective problem solving • Stronger community support and respect • Stronger role in the criminal justice system • More effective innovations • Financial rewards

17. Disadvantages • Cost of training and development • Higher salaries or remuneration for job occupant • Limits entry into the work force from poor because of limited opportunity for educational attainment.

18. It is important to be able to distinguish between professional and non-professional behavior. Sometimes the line is very narrow; sometimes there is a behavioral continuum.

19. "The more I study the world, the more I am convinced of the inability of brute forceto create anything durable." Napoleon

20. Unit Goal: 3.2. • To understand and accept the crucial role of ethics as related to professionalism.

21. 3.2.1. Discuss the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.

22. Points for discussion: • Why there is a code? • What it is? • Its meaning !

23. AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder, and to respect the constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice.

24. I WILL keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life. I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.

25. I WILL never act officiously or permit personal feeling, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear of favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.

26. I RECOGNIZE the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession....Law Enforcement

27. Canons of Police Ethics

28. Article 1. Primary Responsibility of Job • The primary responsibility of the police service, and of the individual officer, is the protection of the people of the United States through the upholding of their laws; chief among these is the Constitution of the United States and its amendments. The law enforcement officer always represents the whole of the community and its legally expressed will and is never the arm of any political party or clique.

29. Article 2. Limitations of Authority • The first duty of a law enforcement officer, as upholder of the law, is to know its bounds upon him in enforcing it. Because he represents the legal will of the community, be it local, state or federal, he must be aware of the limitations and proscriptions which the people, through law, have placed upon him. He must recognize the genius of the American system of government, which gives to no man, groups of men, or institution, absolute power, and he must insure that he, as a prime defender of that system, does not pervert its character

30. Article 3. Duty to be Familiar with the Law and with Responsibilities of Self and other Public Officials • The law enforcement officer shall assiduously apply himself to the study of the principles of the laws, which he is sworn to uphold. He will make certain of his responsibilities in the particulars of their enforcement, seeking aid from his superiors in matters of technicality or principle when these are not clear to him; he will make special effort to fully understand his relationship to other public officials, including other law enforcement agencies, particularly on matters of jurisdiction, both geographically and substantively.

31. Article 4. Utilization of Proper Means to Gain Proper Ends • The law enforcement officer shall be mindful of his responsibility to pay strict heed to the selection of means in discharging the duties of his office. Violations of law or disregard for public safety and property on the part of an officer are intrinsically wrong; they are self-defeating in that they instill in the public mind a like disposition. The employment of illegal means, no matter how worthy the end, is certain to encourage disrespect for the law and its officers. If the law is to be honored, it must first be honored by those who enforce it.

32. Article 5. Cooperation with Public Officials in the Discharge of Their Authorized Duties • The law enforcement officer shall cooperate fully with other public officials in the discharge of authorized duties, regardless of party affiliation or personal prejudice. He shall be meticulous, however, in assuring himself of the propriety, under the law, of such actions and shall guard against the use of his office or person, whether knowingly or unknowingly, in any improper or illegal action. In any situation open to question, he shall seek authority from his superior officer, giving him a full report of the proposed service or action.

33. Article 6.Private Conduct • The law enforcement officer shall be mindful of his special identification by the public as an upholder of the law. Laxity of conduct or manner in private life, expressing either disrespect for the law or seeking to gain special privilege, cannot but reflect upon the police officer and the police service. The community and the service require that the law enforcement officer lead the life of a decent and honorable man. Following the career of a policeman gives no man special perquisites. It does give the satisfaction and pride of following and furthering an unbroken tradition of safeguarding the American republic. The officer who reflects upon this tradition will not degrade it. Rather, he will so conduct his private life that the public will regard him as an example of stability, fidelity and morality.

34. Article 7.Conduct toward the Public • The law enforcement officer, mindful of his responsibility to the whole community, shall deal with individuals of the community in a manner calculated to instill respect for its laws and its police service. The law enforcement officer shall conduct his official life in a manner such as will inspire confidence and trust. Thus, he will be neither overbearing nor subservient, as no individual citizen has an obligation to stand in awe of him nor a right to command him. The officer will give service where he can, and require compliance with the law. He will do neither from personal preference or prejudice but rather as a duly appointed officer of the law discharging his sworn obligation.

35. Article 8.Conduct in Arresting and Dealing with Law Violators • The law enforcement officer shall use his powers of arrest strictly in accordance with the law and with due regard to the rights of the citizen concerned. His office gives him no right to prosecute the violator nor to mete out punishment for the offense. He shall, at all times, have a clear appreciation of his responsibilities and limitations regarding detention of the violator; he shall conduct himself in such a manner as will minimize the possibility of having to use force. To this end he shall cultivate a dedication to the service of the people and the equitable upholding of their laws whether in the handling of law violators or in dealing with the law-abiding.

36. Article 9.Gifts and Favors • The law enforcement officer, representing government, bears the heavy responsibility of maintaining, in his own conduct, the honor and integrity of all government institutions. He shall, therefore, guard against placing himself in a position in which any person can expect special consideration or in which the public can reasonably assume that special consideration is being given. Thus, he should be firm in refusing, gifts, favors, or gratuities, large or small, which can, in the public mind, be interpreted as capable of influencing his judgment in the discharge of his duties.

37. Article 10. Presentation of Evidence • The law enforcement officer shall be concerned equally in the prosecution of the wrong-doer and the defense of the innocent. He shall ascertain what constitutes evidence and shall present such evidence impartially and without malice. In so doing, he will ignore social, political, and all other distinctions among the persons involved, strengthening the tradition of the reliability and integrity of an officer's word. • The law enforcement officer shall take special pains to increase his perception and skill of observation, mindful that :n many situations his is the sole impartial testimony to the facts of a case.

38. Article 11. Attitude Toward Profession • The law enforcement officer shall regard the discharge of his duties as a public trust and recognize his responsibility as a public servant. By diligent study and sincere attention to self-improvement he shall strive to make the best possible application of science to the solution of crime and, in the field of human relationships, strive for effective leadership and public influence in matters affecting public safety. He shall appreciate the importance and responsibility of his office and hold police work to be an honorable profession rendering a valuable service to his community and his country.

39. Did you know! • Much current public and private concern centers around our own values or our lack of them. Many of our institutions and, indeed, the American way of life are attacked for placing value on the wrong things. • Every aspect of human behavior is influenced by personal values, but values are not easily defined or achieved. Their definitions and interpretations vary from period to period, location to location, person to person, group to group, and situation to situation. Some human values have remained intact through centuries (for example, courage) and some have declined and been revived (for example, respect for life).

40. Small Group Discussion

41. Purpose of activity: • To increase the awareness of the complexity of ethical decision making.

42. Discuss whether police officers are objective with all persons regardless of their: • Attitude • Appearance • Race • Sex • Social class • Membership in a particular organization • Age • Type of offense • Prior criminal history.

43. examples in which emotional responses by officers subvert justice and needlessly complicate lives of innocent people. • Rampart Division

44. "Is it all right for criminal justice personnel to slant the information given the community in order to get approval of a really worthwhile project?"

45. "To the extent that you are able to choose your patrol partner, how would your knowledge of his/her ability to be objective influence your choice?" • Blonde • Gay • Idiot

46. Should--or do--officers slant their reports or testimony toinclude only information unfavorable to the suspect or defendant?

47. The acceptance of gifts by a public servant is problematic. Is it okay to accept any of the gifts as a peace officer?

48. Money • An opportunity for sexual intercourse • A weekend at a resort hotel • An FM radio for your personal car • The use of a camper for a weekend • A pistol

49. . • Two tickets to a ball game • Use of a hunting lease • Bottle of liquor • Free meal • Half price meal • A doughnut • or

50. A cup of coffee! • Yummmm its free……