Police Deviance and Accountability

POLICE DEVIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Introduction

The ethically ideal police system would be one with integrity and nothing puzzling about it (i .e , there would be neither corruption nor misconduct . There would be no us-against-them and no disrespect for the limits of the law or how it 's enforced . Everything done in private would be just as if it was done in public (Anonymous This is the probably an interesting view of one 's vision for the police . Can this be achieved ? is a question of utmost importance . The issue of police

misbehavior is a limiting factor in this dream of such an ideal police force . Police deviance is a generic of police officers activities that are inconsistent with the officer 's legal authority , organizational authority and standards of ethical conduct . Who then polices our police or what effective measures have been put in place to curb deviance among the police . The problem of police deviance is seen in the core values of the police and modifying internal review processes would be effective in controlling deviance amongst the police such as allowing civilians interference into the internal review processes of the police force . Following Nelligan and Taylor (1994 : 59 , who wrote that should police work be reorganized patterns of misconduct are likely to change

The actions of the police officers are controlled by a number of different rules and regulations which are written down in the criminal code and various police acts , some are undocumented and exist in the expectation the police department and society at large dictates for its officers

Police deviance is defined as a behavior that is inconsistent with the norms , values or ethics from either societal standpoint . It has thus been described as a much broader term than corruption . The criminal code , which contains policing rules and precepts regarding the use of deadly force and policing , rules . The police act adds rules governing neglect of duty , insubordination , discreditable conduct dressing .The society also has its own rules not formally stated but socially accepted and expected by citizens from officers such as police-citizen interaction , and maintenance of certain ethical standards . Any action that violates such laws is termed as police deviance . Ross (2003 ) sees police misbehaviors in two lights i .e . the officer willfully violating the law and the agency tolerating it . Deviance has been placed on the standard of police behavior , which can be derived from 3 perspectives i .e . ethical , organizational and legal . Ethical standards involve the police officers personal standards of moral integrity and responsibility . Organizational standards are the standards published by the police departments , police boards and commissions . Legal standards involve the laws of the community

How Does Deviance in the Force Arise

The Sherman typology distinguishes between levels of corruption that exist at different levels of the police department . The Rotten apple rotten pocket theory holds that some police officers where deviant before joining the force and upon admission into the force became the deviant ones in the police . The pervasive unorganized...