NCJ Number
73087
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This training brochure explains the role of police administrators, the community, and police officers in determining acceptable standards of police conduct; specific areas of misconduct are identified.
Abstract
Agency administrators and supervisors must be personally committed to creating an agency in which officers act appropriately. Administrators influence conduct primarily through promulgation of regulations and written directives. Public concern can help to alert agencies to improper conduct and to allocating resources and establishing priorities. Although police agencies may wish to bypass legal procedures in order to respond to public demands, illegal use of police authority is never excusable. Officers can also exert pressure on each other to conform; A department's officers develop a suprisingly uniform sense about the exercise of discretionary power. Group pressure in a department censors conduct and can force unethical oficers to change their behavior or to leave the profession. If unethical behavior is accepted, however such conduct is difficult to identify and eliminate. Specific areas of misconduct have been determined. Moonlighting can impair officers' ability to perform on duty. Unbecoming conduct can include tampering with personnel records and vacationing with a known criminal. Insubordination occurs when officers refuse to obey superiors' orders, unless those orders are unreasonable or illegal. Discourtesy, negligence, and inappropriate vehicle operation are all viewed as misconduct. Political activity that is prohibited ranges from using official capacity to affect the outcome of an election, serving as a delegate, or publicly endorsing a partisan candidate. The departmental and national regulations that cover such activity allow for such political activity as voting, being a member of a political party, and serving as an election judge or clerk. Mistreatment of prisoners can entail misuse of force, and officers must be honest in processing evidence. Labor unions are permissible; strikes are not. Residential requirements are sometimes restrictive. Questions and answers are provided.