Police Ethics-Chapter 14, The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics

Question 1

“Any officer who takes (Law Enforcement Code of Ethics) seriously will quickly learn that he cannot do what the code seems to require, He will then either have to quit the force or consign its mandates to Code Heaven

Answer 1

Michael David, criminologist

Question 2

such codes are meant to be broad, general and universal. If they are to accomplish their task, professional codes of ethics need to be vague and general, perhaps even nebulous

Answer 2

Code of Ethics

Question 3

A common criticism of an ethical code is that it is driven by ___

Answer 3

platitudes

Question 4

several different types of codes of ethics, ranging from specific to the general in their approaches to defining appropriate conduct for professionals.

Answer 4

1. Specific or practical- police dept general orders
   provide mandatory set of rules. how-to-do type rules for day-to-day professional life
2. General statements of principles or guidelines- present values for an organization. “Mission Statements”. attemps to give organization long-range rather than immediate, short-term goals.
3. aspirational code- constructs an ideal model of what the profession should be like and how the professional should behave. The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics is such a code.

Question 5

These codes used as shield behind which administators hide if and when officers break a rule of any kind.

Answer 5

general orders manuals are voluminous and impossible to discern

Question 6

this code aims to construct an idealized vision of how the competent and ethical professional should be and behave. It sets general guidelines and presents ethical tenets toward which the professional should aim

Answer 6

Aspirational code-Law enforcement Code of Ethics
The tone that the code takes is a purposeful one. It sounds idealistic and utopian. It presents a vision of the consummate professionals approach.

Question 7

In a Kantian sense, the code suggests that some principles by which police ought to live are absolute.

Answer 7

ethical formalism

Question 8

“One argument is that the code specifies such perfect behavior that it is irrelevant to the realities of most officers.”

Answer 8

Criminal ethicist Joycelyn Pollock

Question 9

this code encompasses an important set of principles, defines an ideal conceptualization of what a police officer ought to be and sets up a goal toward which all honest, hardworking, dedicated professionals can aim

Answer 9

The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics

Question 10

aspirational codes

Answer 10

type of professional code that suggest optimum conduct and ethics; posits behavior for the professional that is of a desirous nature.

Question 11

code of ethics

Answer 11

set of professional principles that comprise written explanation of the internalized codes of ethics that are emblematic of the profession

Question 12

mission statement

Answer 12

pronouncements of the principles and goals of organizations, institutions, businesses and in recent years, even individuals; in vogue for the past three decades, these composite manifestos explicate directions and foci of varying specificity

Question 13

platitudes

Answer 13

a flat, trite or weak utterance; a dull or stale truism; a commonplace remark

Question 14

utopian

Answer 14

refers to Utopia, a book about an ideal city and society written by Thomas More; also the name of the ideal city