Applied Criminal Justice Ethics free essay sample

This has to be one of my favorite assignments since becoming a student at Kaplan. I have been interested in the Criminal Justice since I was a small child. I come from a long line of military, however, my passion has always been Criminal Law. I remember even as a young girl in the 2nd grand, I had dreams and aspirations of becoming a lawyer. Now that I have an ex husband, and two children of my own and find the justice system a little â€Å"Leewayish† (if that’s even a word) on dead beat fathers, my dream has now become to be a â€Å"Ball busting District Attorney for deadbeat moms and dads. I am sick and tired of seeing the same faces in court every other month with the same stories that they cant find work, or they cant see their kids, or they were helping with the flood cleanup. We will write a custom essay sample on Applied Criminal Justice Ethics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I am sure you can feel my frustration! Other avenues of the law that I have a particular interest in is detective work, private investigation and cold case files. I am also an avid photographer so I would love to take that passion and put into crime scenes, while I pursue a law degree. My best friend Shonda, who I have interviewed for this assignment, is now a detective. She absolutely loves her job, but is currently back into school to further herself into a law degree. I love the cold cases being solved after all hope is lost, on television I know, but still yet. The Jaycee Duggard story gave me a new passion for cold case, when she was found years later. After her kidnapper left her emotionally scarred, she was still able to return to parents who never gave up hope. For my interviews I picked a street cop turned detective to see where her thought process was ethically on the questions at hand. For my second interviewee, I picked a K9 officer who was on the meth task force, but due to meth running a rampant race with the unemployment level sky high, I had to settle for the less enthusiastic Prison Corporal. I never hope to work in a prison ever in my years of criminal law. I do, however, like the Detective work that Shonda does. You will see their thought process are both criminal law focused, but on two very different sides of the Criminal Justice system. Shonda Ellis Duncan is a 30 year old married mother of 2 and has chosen a career in law enforcement in a small town municipal department. Approximate population of the area is 120,000 and ethnicity wise it is 99% white and 1% other races. Due to the unemployment rate being at 22% in the small town of Oneida, Tn, she states methamphetamine amp; prescription drug sales and theft are on the rise. This county also has high instances of possession and manufacturing of meth on a weekly basis which is contributing to early use, and early deaths as young as 30. I had the chance to go back home and Interview an old high school friend of mine who started back in law enforcement as a 911 dispatcher in 1998 after High school graduation. Full name: Shonda Ellis Duncan. Current Title: Investigator. Synopsis of training: She started law enforcement in Aug 2002 amp; was fresh out of college. She had obtained a degree in Paralegal Studies and done her internship for the DA. One evening she got a call for a friend telling her Oneida Police Department had a position open and he wanted her to apply. When she arrived, she stated the Chief of police had been waiting on her but she was not interested in the thoughts of law enforcement, but fresh out of college with a family, she needed money and went ahead and applied with the thought it would be something till she could find something else. She stated â€Å"She started as a Patrolman. When I got back from the academy I was also trained as a 911 dispatcher and corrections officer. I am the only officer in the department trained in everything. After the election in Sept this year, our Chief became the new Sheriff. He asked me to go with him to the county and be a detective but I couldnt afford the pay cut or loss of insurance. The city told me if I stayed theyd make me investigator. Im the first female to hold that title in Oneida†. (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) Interview Questions: * 1. Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? * 1. † People see police officers as a symbol of the law. We are a walking talking version of the written text. We must maintain good character and ethics for people to have any hope in our system. As corrupt or dysfunctional as it may be, it’s all we have. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 2. Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? * 2. â€Å"I don’t know if police or more ethical now or not. I do believe they are held more accountable. It reminds me of a story an old retired trooper told me a while back. He was telling of bringing a prisoner in the Sally Port. He said he got on the radio and hollered, â€Å"someone come catch ‘em†. He said he’d get on one side of the patrol car and use a cattle prod to â€Å"goose† the prisoner out the other side. This would be frowned on now a days lol. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 3. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? 3. † I believe police officers get involved in misconduct because some an idea that they are not held to the same standards ad laws as the general public. They have a false sense of entitlement. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 4. Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? 4. † I believe there was enough ethics taught at the academy. I think the most valuable lessons in this are learned on the job though. If you watch a good honest cop, you can learn more from him than a lecture. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 5. Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? * 5. On-going ethics training is always a good idea. We train with our guns and cars every year. Couldn’t hurt to make ethics required every year too. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 6. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? * 6. â€Å"Training may reduce corruption incidents. It’s a nice idea. A wise man once told me though that power corrupts. I believe this to be true. If you think of yourself as a superior to everyone else, there is no law, no training or in-service that can fix that kind of ugly. I don’t know if someone can be â€Å"trained† to be humble. Either you are or you ain’t. I think this is true for cops. You’re either a good one or we appreciate your interest in law enforcement. Of course a good cop has to maintain order. You must have respect to be successful. An officer’s presence alone demands it. One must remember the spirit and the letter of the law though and hold it dear as it is precious. â€Å"(Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) My next interviewer is kind of a surprise to me. When I got back in touch with him, I figured by his lovely high school record and reckless nickname, he would have definitely served some time for being so reckless by now. I was quite surprised to see how grown up and responsible he had become after his bad impression was left on our high school principal. Maybe sometimes the rotten egg can turn good after all. Anthony Young is a 34 year old single father of one son who found that the commute to Morgan County, which is a 30 minute drive on backroads, deemed beneficial to him to secure employment at a maximum security prison. Although he states he constantly has to look over his shoulder for upholding whats right in the prison sector of the avenue of Criminal Justice, he said its his calling and there is no place he would rather be. His hobbies in his off time include spending time with his son, hiking in the Big South Fork national Forest, hunting wild game amp; deer, four-wheeling, and collecting classic cars with his most prized possession being a purple corvette! Since I interviewed a former road cop now turned Investigator, I wanted to touch on someone who was totally trained in just corrections as an insider to the prison system. I spent the afternoon with CPL. Anthony Young, 34, who is a seasoned officer with Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Morgan County, Tn. He is a short haired wild side living on the edge kind of personality with short hair and a beautiful smile. Can be tender hearted if need be, but mostly sounds kind of gruff. He chuckles as he knows this is going to take a while and states, â€Å"You owe me big time for this†. About Anthony: Anthony Young, Tennessee Department of Corrections, Morgan county correctional complex. He was hired on Februay 28th, 2005 as a correctional officer. He then was promoted to corporal on October 16th of 2007, since then he states he has supervised everything from the minimum security yard to the maximum security housing units as far as working with the normal operation of the institution. â€Å"I have been the supervisor over the visitation department working with both inmates and civilians, and I am currently the grievance chairman(which being the complaint dept is amusing)† (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) Interview Questions: 1. Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Character and ethics are an important part because with the type of people we have to deal with we have to set an example for them as well as be professional as possible; at the same time trying to maintain the security of the institution. I have saw that the officers with the strong character are more respected by the inmate population because they are more consistent with their daily duties, and the inmates know what those officers expect out of them everyday as opposed to the more laid back go with the flow ill let that slide officers. I feel the ethics are used to be fair with what decisions you make while performing your duties. One of the big things that we hear over and over at the academy is be firm, fair, and consistent by being firm you show them what you expect out of them day in and day out, which takes character. By being fair you use ethics to make sure the punishment fits the crime. By being consistent means you are the same every day, you dont lock up a guy up today for being out of place and let someone go for doing the same thing tomorrow. If you do it to one you have to do it to all as it shows both character and ethics on your part as well as it sets the standards that they have to go by. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) . Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? â€Å"Wow this is a tough one, I would probably say they were more ethical 10 years ago due to the fact of the different generation. as far as we go in corrections, 10 years ago the Tennessee prison system was not over populated like it is today. You didnt have the need for as many officers as you need today to carry out the daily duties of the institution. Your officers were usually older more mature officers that had to actually pass the civil service test in order to even be considered for a job interview. Somewhere in late 2007 the civil service test was done away with as far as corrections goes, since then we have gotten younger officers mostly fresh out of high school. Most of the younger officers are not as security minded as the older officers and the inmate population can manipulate them easier causing much more problems and a lot more injuries and staff turnover as opposed to yesteryear. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 3. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? â€Å"As far as corrections goes I feel that its mostly the money. I have seen a lot of officers lose their jobs due to misconduct by bringing in contraband. law enforcement officers are underpaid all across the state, most of us in corrections have second jobs just to be able to make it in todays economic time. In march of 2007, tobacco products were banned from the prison system, since then I have watched numerous staff lose their jobs due to bringing in tobacco to the inmates, they are selling it for as much as $400 a pound, and the inmates are turning around and selling it to other inmates for as much as $150 dollars a ounce! I have saw officers lose their jobs over $20 prepaid cell phones that they have brought in and sold to the inmate for as much as $800 a piece. These officers are looking at the quick money now to make a truck payment or house payment as opposed to the monthly pay they will make as long as they have their job. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 4. Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? â€Å"In reference to our academy we have to attend I would say yes. Ethics comes up in almost every class we have to attend for the 6 weeks we are at the academy. It is constantly drove into your head about what kind of environment we are about to enter into and the possible outcome of both the ethical and unethical decisions you will make. In the kind of environment we work in unethical decisions could very easily get you or someone else killed. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 5. Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? â€Å"I feel as long as we have law enforcement officers, it should be. One who loses the ethical bearings on the job at hand, will also lose a life or cause someone else to be injured. Samantha and I grew up in a town that was 99. 9 percent white population, in the prison system there is no room for racism. This mindest of white versus black can get a green horned corrections officer killed or injured to a bad point of never being able to walk again, see, work. Some of these guys are in here for the long haul, so they have nothing left to lose. If you slip up with the wrong racist comment, someone will get hurt. I thank god for ethics and morals being taught to me all my life and even in my correctional officer career. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 6. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? â€Å"I feel that it could, a lot of officers are not worried about the consequences of making unethical decisions, which not only affect themselves but others as well. If they are constantly reminded of the outcome and the thought stays fresh inside their mind they would be more likely to make more ethical decisions. (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) In conclusion, I feel that Shonda with a background in college probably has more of an ethical expertise as opposed to someone with just Corrections officer training like Anthony possesses. Education wise, Shonda has the upper hand. Shonda is also a former street cop, in our old town which is still 99. 9 percent white population and zero gang related activity. Anthony works in a prison setting where they get a melting pot of races and a ton of gang affiliations. I think on the job wise, Anthony has the upper hand ethically. The two professions I chose to interview, could not have been more different. In regards to Shonda, she is one of the only women on the force in Scott County. She has a lot of men backing her up and trying to protect her. I think a good decision for her was to become a detective/investigator over a road cop in a town that seems to be over run with alcoholics, trailer park domestic violence calls, meth manufacturing and prescription drug sales. At a whopping 5 foot, if someone wanted to do some damage to her, she may be tough but people messed up on drugs are no match for anyone. She loves her job on the force and is very well respected by all. I am so very thankful to call her my friend. In regards to Anthony, he is a former street fighting self assured redneck. He grew up hard, lived hard, and partied harder. After the birth of his son, he settled into parent mode and become a corrections officer. Due to the reputation of his past acts under the age of 18, Anthony had to seek employment out of town. He drives 33 miles to work one way. He has made a name for himself at the prison as well. He never waivers from whats right and wrong, he never ever buddies up or demeans the inmates, and he always has the back of his fellow officers and in turn get the same respect he is given. I think growing up in a town of all white people and having racist family members, like you do when you grow up in a town like ours, probably hurt him morally. Now that he is an adult, he has to take actions like an adult and act morally as deemed by the position in which he carries. Anthony will tell you, this is not a job for the weak or the racist.