Leadership Is the Key to Ethical Practice in Criminal Justice Agencies (1999)

Newspaper reporters have recently called me to comment on two separate incidents involving violations of ethical practice by employees of criminal justice agencies. One reporter, by exercising the Freedom of Information Act, discovered that a large proportion of correctional officers employed by a county jail had been arrested for criminal activity since being employed by the jail. Most charges were for misdemeanors and included driving under the influence, simple assault, and various theft crimes. The second reporter was working on a story about a police officer arrested for excessive use of force. This incident was the most recent in a serious of serious allegations against officers from the department. Both reporters wanted to know the same things: (1) whether such incidents were common in criminal justice agencies, (2) why they occur, and (3) whether they could be prevented or were simply unavoidable consequences of criminal justice work. Inappropriate, illegal, and unethical behavior occurs in all organizations--hospitals, social service agencies, corporations, and even universities. Criminal justice agencies are no exception. A few individuals will succumb to corruption, will use excessive force, will commit acts of brutality, will violate due process protections and human rights provisions of individuals, will exploit and harass clients and fellow workers, and engage in other unethical practices. Part of the problem is simply the fallibility of human beings. The same forces that act on individuals elsewhere to lie, steal, and hurt others likewise press upon criminal justice employees to act inappropriately. Furthermore, the nature of criminal justice work may heighten the forces to act inappropriately. Law enforcement officers see all, law abiding and criminal, at our worst, enraged at being stopped for a traffic offense, hurt, or having just committed a horrendous act of violence. The we/they mentality, us against them, and the thin blue line are perceptions likely to be formed and reinforced within law enforcement. Once formed, they provide fertile ground for individuals to overstep ethical limits, to justify their actions to themselves, and to believe that their victims deserved the actions meted out no matter how inappropriate. Individuals working in institutional corrections have the responsibility for holding people against their will. It is the duty of probation and parole officers to limit the freedoms of their clients. Under these circumstances, the individuals whose freedom is constrained--prisoners, probationers, and parolees--seldom express their appreciation for the supervision received. Instead, insulting and disparaging comments are common. Prisoners may throw feces and urine on officers and occasionally attack their keepers. As with police officers, such behavior can provoke the dehumanization of the correctional client and inappropriate behavior among correctional employees. Focusing on individual propensity and job-related pressures that may lead to unethical practices tells only part of the story about the occurrence of the problem within police and correctional agencies. The organizational climate which is directly influenced by the leadership of the agency determines how much unethical behavior will be present in a criminal justice agency or, for that matter, any organization. Let me be explicit in what I am saying: excessive use of force, brutality, corruption, involvement in criminal activity, graft, employee theft, sexual misconduct, discrimination, racism, sexism, and harassment will vary directly with managerial attention to the promotion of ethical standards of practice among employees. In other words, ethical behavior within a criminal justice agency is up to the chief executive officer and that individual's management team. Isolated incidents of unethical practices may occur in any organization for the reasons given above, but when we observe repeated instances of any of the egregious activities listed above, significant blame lies with management. …