Central Police University - Ethics in Policing -

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Central Police University- Ethics in Policing -

• By
• Terry Gingerich, Ph.D.
• Western Oregon University

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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.
• 
  

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What is ethics?

• Professional ethics concerns the behavior of a
  certain profession or group, in this case police
  officers. (Pollock-Byrne, 19892)
• It centers around personal integrity.
• I dont think that anything I say here today will
  be new to you, its simply an opportunity to
  reinforce our commitment to professional
  policing.

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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)

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Law EnforcementOath 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

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Taiwans 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.

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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.
• Its a servant-master relationship and we
  expect that police officers will not betray that
  trust.

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Trust and Betrayal

• Edwin Delattre (200639), 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.

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Responsibilities and Professionalism

• To build and sustain public trust a departments
  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.

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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, Taiwans 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 NPAs 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.

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Character and Reputation
Public Perception of Police Performance in
Taiwan, 1945-2009 Gingerich, Chu, and Chang
(2010, under review)
Year Low/ Serious High/ Not Serious No Opinion Source N
3.1 Do you believe police corruption is a serious problem in Taiwan? 3.1 Do you believe police corruption is a serious problem in Taiwan? 3.1 Do you believe police corruption is a serious problem in Taiwan? 3.1 Do you believe police corruption is a serious problem in Taiwan? 3.1 Do you believe police corruption is a serious problem in Taiwan? 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? 3.2 Do you believe police demonstrate high or low levels of trustworthiness? 3.2 Do you believe police demonstrate high or low levels of trustworthiness? 3.2 Do you believe police demonstrate high or low levels of trustworthiness? 3.2 Do you believe police demonstrate high or low levels of trustworthiness? 3.2 Do you believe police demonstrate high or low levels of trustworthiness?
2007 25 75 0 Gallop Unk.
Data Gallop Taiwan Social Change Survey
(TSCS) Public Perceptions of Police Survey (PPPS)
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Public Perception of Police Performance in
Taiwan, 1945-2009Gingerich, Chu, and Chang
(2010, under review)
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Public Perception of Police Performance in
Taiwan, 1945-2009Gingerich, Chu, and Chang
(2010, under review)
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Hypotheses About Corruption

• Hypotheses

• Explanation

• Society-at-Large Hypothesis
• Structural or Affiliation Hypothesis
• Rotten-Apple Hypothesis

• Society expects favors from the police offer
  gratuities to receive them (social custom).
• Cultural influences within the department make it
  acceptable (organizational culture)
• A disposition toward corruption by individual
  officers

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However, one hypothesis alone is too simple to
explain the causes of police corruption
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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?

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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

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Potential threats to the NPADrug offences
reported by the MOJ

• Year

• New drug cases

• 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

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THANK YOU

• It has been my honor to present this lecture