Addressing the Core Values of Integrity and Law Enforcement within the United States

Addressing the Core Values of Integrity and Law Enforcement within the United States
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Addressing the Core Values of Integrity and Law Enforcement within the United States
Successful policing and law enforcement is supported by building and maintaining community trust. Building a good reputation takes considerable continuous effort among the law enforcers (COPS, 2007). Travis and Brann (2013) allude that integrity is universal, and it can be measured in an individual, an organization, an agency, an institution, or an entire nation. Integrity is an important aspect of developing trust, competence, professionalism, and confidence. Fundamentally, it is important in the public service sector, where various agencies are a representative of the government. According to Travis and Brann (2013), every human can interpret behavior and occasions concerning integrity or a defilement of trust. Law enforcement is an important sector in a democratic country and requires high levels of integrity to make it acceptable to the people. In the United States, there are many occasions when the people have raised concerns that continue to erode faith in the integrity of the police forces and the judicial system. Consequently, there has been closer scrutiny on professions in the law enforcement units and varying responses to critical issues (COPS, 2007). Despite efforts to regain and maintain confidence among the American people, the law enforcement is challenged by the actions of a few unethical officers, making it loose integrity. The fact that the law enforcement is often judged as a group makes the indictment of one to seem like the actions of all (COPS, 2007). The relationship between the law enforcement and US citizens has come under scrutiny in recent years due to the increased number of killings by the police, which has often been branded with racial speculations. Resultantly, there is a need to address issues that undermine law enforcement integrity and how they can be rectified.
Klockars et al. (2000) alludes that every police agency offers the officers a profession that is filled with chances of misconduct. The nature of their job is challenging as it involves discretionary coercive undertakings that often take place out of the supervisor's sight. Additionally, often witnesses have been regarded as unreliable, making it difficult for fair judgment to be achieved. Corruption is among the major ills that undermine the law enforcement unit. It involves the abuse of authority for personal gain. Klockars et al. (2000) notes that corruption is misconduct that is hard to eradicate among the police. Consequently, it paves the way for other wrong doings such as drug trafficking. Klockars et al. (2000) suggest that it is the reluctance of fellow officers to report the corrupt activities that contribute to the loss of integrity in the force (Stinson, Liederbach, & Brewer, 2016). Additionally, the existence of ignorant senior police officers who fail to acknowledge the existence of corruption in their organizations, and lack of immediate witnesses willing to testify in such cases, contributes to the proliferation of corrupt activities (U.S. Department of Justice, 2001). Suggestively, the integrity of the law enfo...