Ethics in Criminal Justice: The Impact of police sub-cultures in the agencies code of ethics

Ethics in Criminal Justice Name: Unit Name: Name of Professor: Date: The Impact of police sub-cultures in the agencies code of ethics Introduction Culture could be defined in several ways but in particular, it is the learned and shared behavior of a group of people interacting. It is the shared knowledge and schemes, which are established by a category of people for expressing, interpreting and responding to social issues surrounding them. It is a set of knowledge, values, mores, and behavior of a person in a community, which are shared by its members. On the other hand, it is a grouping within the common culture, which harbors fundamental principles but operates in a different way from the main grouping. In essence, a subculture could be defined as a culture within another culture. The members of this subculture are still considered to be part of the main grouping or culture. The difference is that, their beliefs with regard to material and non-material principles are varied and exclusive to their specific subcultures. A good example in this aspect could be derived from the police force where the main culture is camaraderie. Within this culture, individuals may choose to operate along the different paths of this aspect, sometimes even subverting it unlawfully. In most cases, a subculture forms uniformity (Lederach, 1995, p.9). The police force, not only in USA but also in many parts of the world enjoys lack of restrictions, which are normally not depicted with normal citizens. These restrictions include the use of force, speeding, seizing vehicles, properties and so on. The police profession offers, and justifies some form of deviance (Bjerregaard & Lord, 2004, p. 262-284). In most cases, police deviance within the policing organization is likely to be caused by poor supervision and the kind of their operations, which are sometimes isolated. How Policy Subculture Undermines Policing Code of Ethics   A good number of police officers may be eth...