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Posted: August 26th, 2022
Documentary Opinion
Documentary Opinion
Task:
1. Identify the differences between the formal ethics of law enforcement and the values of the police subculture and document.
2. Watch the Frontline special, Policing the Police (Links to an external site.), a documentary about the unethical practices of the Newark (New Jersey) Police Department http://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-policing-police/
3. After watching the video, identify participants in the documentary and how he/she/they exhibit both the formal ethics of law enforcement as well as the values of the police subculture.
4. Finally, in your opinion, which member of the police department (or City government) is the most corrupt? Rank the corrupt from most (number 1) to least, (number 5).
Your response should be thoughtful and concise, 5 pages in length and written in a WORD document. Be sure to adhere to APA format (to include a cover page, proper formatting, in-text citations, and a reference page).
Documentary Opinion
The root cause of police misconduct and good policing is police sub-cultures and formal ethics in law enforcement. Police officers’ subcultures involve the values that police officers uphold and share to survive in critical situations. Sme of the subcultural values, include, teamwork, empathy, perseverance, and approaches to cope with traumatic stress (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). Police officers, o the other hand, police officers follow a defined formal code of ethics that is primarily concerned with serving the community, protecting the weak and minority against deception, such as corruption, and adhere to constitutional rights, such as the enforcement of justice, equality, and liberty.
Police officers’ formal ethical considerations are enforced by the agencies, focusing on preventing police misconduct. Police officers are expected to follow formal ethics and character development in everyday activities (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). Law enforcement believes that to know well is to do well; hence police officers are expected to do well regardless of the situation. For instance, investigative officers cannot lie to acquire evidence or fabricate evidence to get a search warrant. Police officers’ formal ethics form an oath during graduation, which involves various policing principles, such as police officers should keep their loves private, enhance integrity, confidentiality, and maintain a professional image.
On the other hand, police sub-culture involves unity and teamwork between police officers, where a police officer can count on other officers in case of a dangerous situation. Bravery and sacrifice are the central values in police sub-cultures (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). Police subculture may consist of positive and negative values that may go contrary to law enforcement’s formal ethics. Some of the positive values include empathy, caring, loyalty, camaraderie, and safety. Additionally, police officers’ subculture is viewed as unfavorable, for instance, biases, overly conservative, Cynicism, close-mindedness, prejudice, and alienation. In most circumstances, what police officers view as good values may not be received positively because the agencies believe the sub-culture is very influential and destructive, leading to negative actions (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). During training, the information and stories lead to police subcultures because most stories consist of skeptics, mistrust, and Cynicism. Most stories do not consist of information concerning formal moral ethics, creating a perception that police officers are characterized by cultures, such as moral conservatism and Cynicism.
According to the documentary, police departments have been engaged in unconstitutional behaviors that disrespect human rights over the years. The documentary is about policing the police, where the main participants are the Newark police department with cases of police abused of force (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). Newark department is accused of discriminatory police actions, racism, unconstitutional stops, searches, and seizures. Most Newark police department victims are blacks and Latinos, where the victims are treated as the perpetrator (Medina, 2020). Due to the increased rate of drug use and violence in the American Neighbourhoods, police Newark police officers have developed a subculture of going around frisking and searching people along the streets.
Police officers conduct unconstitutional searches in their efforts to collect evidence and arrest people involved in drug abuse. According to the police, the public should fear the police, a subculture for police officers to threaten the public. According to the journalist, everyone in the neighborhood seems suspicious (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). Police officers acquire drugs and weapons through teamwork, support, camaraderie, and sacrifice as police subculture’s principal value. According to the police, every night, weapons are collected on the streets, which is a way of maintaining public safety, safeguarding property, and protecting the innocent against deception according to law enforcement’s formal ethics. According to Jelani Cobbs, the primary goal of the [police is to maintain peace and care for the community.
The police officers are forced to use guns in a dangerous situation to survive as the goal of the police sub-culture. The Newark police subculture is traced back to 1967, where police officers used excessive force towards the black community, leading to a black civilian’s fight and death. Since the fight, the Newark police department has never been the same, especially on discriminatory policing (Medina, 2020). Police officers use intelligence to spot suspects with weapons that work best, but police officers end up harassing the public through warrantless searches and seizure without intelligence. Police officers in Newark believe the black Americans are thugs, drug users, and dealers, hence developing a subculture of suspicion, authoritarianism, biases, non-scientific policing tactics, and prejudice. Some of the police officers go to the extent of exchanging oral sex for leniency.
Personally, police brutality has been an issue for years, relating to the negative police subculture’s Newark history. Members of the states have come up with programs to address the use of excessive force, such as police brutality campaigns from local activists. The criminal justice system is the most corrupt for investigating police brutality and coming up with reforms. According to the justice department, the criminal justice system must investigate police misconduct and prosecute police officers caught using the excessive force of conducting warranted searches and seizures (Medina, 2020).
The Newark police department corrupt acts cause police misconduct, especially with the damaged computer systems. The computer systems affect policing, such as responding to 911 calls. Lack of computers and intelligence systems is caused by corruption and embezzlement of funds, according to the meeting with the Mayor. The department is characterized by non-compliance and negligence, especially in dealing with the public. The negligence and corrupt ways cause the police officers to use force towards the public to exercise authority (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). The authoritarianism is caused by a lack of systems to track and monitor illegality in the community, which is the best in reducing police use. The department’s high-ranking police officers spend the agency money on personal activities, such as paying for trips, dinner, and female friends, such as Mr. Celester. Senior officers and detectives are involved with corruption, such as misuse of investigative funds meant for conducting intelligence, such as body cameras, tape recorders, and wiretapping.
The parole board is corrupt when especially when not using intelligence devices to spot criminals with weapons. According to police ethics, the parole board conducts warrantless searches and seizures to acquire evidence, which is a corrupt act. Parole officers have a suspicious culture towards the blacks and Latinos, where all blacks and Latinos in the streets go through unconstitutional searches and seizure (Medina, 2020). Newark PD believes that the public should cooperate with police officers, regardless of the approach used to stop and question the public. The police officers use force to acquire public fear, mostly when stopped by more than two police officers. The internal affair unit is characterized by corrupt acts and misconduct, such as misplacement of one hundred and two hundred case files.
The department does not handle brutality cases, where, according to the documentary, twenty-one complaints were pending (Medina, 2020). According to Newark residents, the police department should change, where the Mayor has tried to enhance a positive relationship between the police and the public. Building trust would be the most effective way to reform the Newark police department’s corrupt acts. According to the community changing police, culture would be the best way to change the police department’s corrupt acts (Westmarland, and Rowe, 2018). Changing police culture has been challenging, especially where the police culture has been in use for many years. The community does not support corporate with police officers because of the mentality that police officers harm and use brutal force. The lack of trust between the department and the community has been the leading cause of police brutality.
The Mayor advocates that police officers should be taught how to use force and build good relationships and trust with the community. The reforms implemented by the Mayor will assist the department and the community left in peace, avoid police misconduct, deaths, and harassment (Medina, 2020). Negative police sub-culture can be prevented by frequently training police officers on ethical policing. Also, training police officers to treat the public equally without discrimination is essential. Getting training on stops and arrest, on force assist the police to relate well with the community. On the other hand, the criminal justice system should investigate police brutality and improper use of funds in the department.
References
Medina, D. (2020). Neighborhood Change within New Jersey: The Evolutionary History that Led to the New Newark.
Westmarland, L., & Rowe, M. (2018). Police ethics and integrity: can a new code overturn the blue code?. Policing and society, 28(7), 854-870.
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