Selective Enforcement

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT BY POLICE AND SELECTIVE PROSECUTION BY STATE ATTORNEYS

INTRODUCTION

Ethical codes dictate personal morality and help establish public trust and accountability (1 . For the police and state attorneys three specific dimensions of enforcement involve the competing principles of ensuring reliable evidence due process and fairness , whereas deterring possible (police /state attorney ) misconduct (2

The police chief magazine of 1998 touches on law enforcement ethics in America . The article on the continuum of compromise looks at the Rodney King , Ruby Ridge , Waco , evidence planting in Philadelphia

, incidences and the rise of ethical controversies that `captured the nation 's attention (3

Today , in the year 2007 , the USA has had its fair share of prosecutional proceedings gone awry with ethical issues arising . Each new headline comes with mistrust of law enforcement increasing , compromise of police versus community relations , and tainting of the reputations of various law enforcement organs (4

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SELECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT

Development of the sense of victimization

Law enforcement officers , police and state attorneys alike beggining their careers with great drive and excitement . With time however , as evidenced in most police and state attorney evaluation reports , these officials `over-identify ' and `over-invest ' in their professions (5 The risk in this practice is that for the officer concerned , the profession becomes a way of life . However , the state attorney or policing duty is not a role one can control as opposed to one 's lifestyle . The officer is hence exposed to possible resentment of his job (7

If a police officer or state attorney is frustrated by an already existing legal structure , he might develop an attitude that always puts him against the system . For example he might be cynical and even from an argument such as this it doesn 't matter how guilty you are , but how slick your lawyer is (8

With continued exposure to lethal incidences , like seeing fellow officers die in the streets while chasing criminals , or loose jobs due to high pro level of some proceedings , some officers decide to survive . Survival calls for great vigilance , in the process alienating oneself from the public (9 . It is typical to hear these in police or state attorneys talk , I can handle the morons on the streets , I just can 't handle the morons in administration

The practice of acts of commission

`Acts of omission ' occur when officers rationalize and justify not doing the things they are responsible for doing (10 . It is a rebound on an existing administration , for their failure ' to address some pertinent issues (11 . These officers ask , If they (the administration or media don 't care about us , why should we care about them (12 . with such an attitude , it is possible to see police misconduct like involvement in crime going unreported . It is also possible for state attorneys to do plea bargains or pursue unilateral decisions that necessarily are acts of injustice

The practice of acts of commission

The challenge of breaking `small rules ' becomes a common...