Importance Of Police Integrity

1379 Words6 Pages
The unwieldy part of this discussion is that integrity, like all traits, is open to interpretation. What some might define as poor integrity others may view as non-issues. For example, should the way a person acts in their personal life have any bearing on their leadership role at work? Police officers are given the power and responsibility to make decisions based on their own judgments that affect the lives of anyone involved. The reason they allowed to have this kind of power is that they are trusted to make sure that their actions are in compliance with the law and the policies of their agency. Having this much responsibility on their back makes their standards level above the average citizen. The way the public views the police as a whole…show more content…
How the department is managed will dramatically affect how officers behave toward citizens and the way officers behave toward citizens will affect whether citizens view law enforcement as an institution with integrity. We now have an issue with integrity in our class because of the current situation and no one having the uprightness to own up to the actions. There is a possibility that the person in our class that is facing an issue with their integrity can later become one of the police officers that have been charged because of their dishonesty. Defining values and principles and incorporating them into every facet of operations may be more important than hiring decisions. Diligence in detecting and addressing misconduct will show officers that managers practice what they preach. There is are many cases throughout different articles showing different police officers from patrol officer all the way up to directors and chiefs of the agencies caught lying or attempting to cover up a situation. This shows that any law enforcement officer can be guilty of being dishonest no matter how many stripes and…show more content…
Police officers complete factual reports based on their investigations and observations. These reports are relied upon by others to further investigations and are often used as critical evidence in a variety of proceedings. Officers take enforcement action; secure evidence; maintain confidential information; have access to privileged information; handle drugs, money, and guns; process crime scenes; maintain reports of crimes and accidents; and, importantly, they are authorized by law to dispossess others of their constitutional rights and use deadly force when appropriate. Simply put, a law enforcement official’s word, and the complete veracity of that word is the fundamentally necessary to do the job. We all know the old adage: "Honesty is the Best Policy." Now, more than ever, police officers must make that their mantra, as it has become increasingly apparent that there is no quicker road to termination than to tell a lie. The management principle: "You Lie, You Die" is a harsh reality that is routinely invoked, and upheld, in law enforcement dishonesty cases no matter how small or trivial the transgression. In this day and age, no matter how good your lawyer is, or how minor the lie, there is just no real way to avoid a termination sanction once a police officer heads down the untruthfulness

More about Importance Of Police Integrity

Open Document