The Line Officer
Function
CJUS 104
Part 1: The Nature of Police Work
I. The Police: who are they?
A. Police in the United States
1. Refers to any branch of government with:
(a) Preservation of public order / tranquility
(b) Promotion of: health / safety / morals
(c) Prevention / detection / resolution
2. Wear many titles
- police officer / peace officer / deputy
sheriff / state trooper / federal agent
- park ranger / game agent / liquor control /
gambling enforcement / drug control
officer / public lands officer / etc.
B. Conferred by state of employment
- state delegates power
- power of the 10th Amendment
“The powers not delegated to the Unites
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
it to the states, are reserved to the states
respectively, or to the people.”
1. Enables states / local governments
- establish a department of police
2. Adopt laws / regulations as needed
- prevent crime
3. Power conferred on sheriff / police chief
- delegates this power
- work under administrators authority
C. Police responsibilities
- unique environment / constantly changing
1. Based on: social / legal / economic / political
/ intellectual forces
- combination to create unique environment
- substantial influence on police behavior
a. Affects all to some degree
- determines where / when to enforce
- which laws to enforce / to ignore
- Question?
2. Distinguished from other social institutions
- distinct government entity
- actions controlled forces in environment
- forces external to police organization
D. Primary shapers of police
-society / government
1. Interdependence of the two
- terms often interchangeable
- society cannot exist = formal government
- government cannot exist = social structure
2. Where do police fit in?
- which branch of government?
- developed to protect / to serve
a. Government’s enforcement arm
- insure compliance with
- making / carrying out public policy
b. Political process
- determine what behavior not acceptable
- unacceptable: prevented / deterred
- responsibility of police
c. Closely resemble society / government
- totalitarian country = police are brutal
E. Police and the law
- distributed thru several government levels
1. Federal / state / local agencies
- various types of police organizations
- each agency = unique laws to enforce
- unique set of responsibilities
2. Agencies are decentralized (40,000)
- centralized agencies more effective
- decentralized more responsive and
accountable to the people served
- governments: do not want to lose power
F. Police enforce the law
- binding rules / regulate conduct / provide
sanctions
1. The law serves to:
a. Legitimize social structure - question?
b. Regulate social conduct - question?
c. Regulate freedom - question?
d. Resolve disputes - question?
2. Laws govern police (control)
- also reason for their existence
a. Two types of laws that affect
a. Substantive – criminal statutes to control
b. Procedural – proscribe how police apply
- deadly force / arrest / breath test
G. Police power
- sovereign right of any government
- promote order / safety / health / morals /
general welfare within constitutional limits
1. Misuse of police power
- violation of constitutional rights
- go beyond scope of your power
- can be a criminal action filed
H. Roles and functions of police
- perform wide range of tasks / activities
1. Law enforcement functions
- investigate criminal activity
- arrest perpetrators of crime
- serve warrants
- interrogate suspects / interview witnesses
2. Order maintenance functions
- clear areas of unwanted people
- intervene in noisy gatherings / parties
- breakup fights
3. Miscellaneous services
- assist people (lost / stranded)
- provide information (death notices)
- traffic enforcement – citations / accidents
- provide emergency services (injuries)
I. Overview of criminal justice
- private sector usually initiates response
1. Responsible for crime prevention
- active participation in reporting process
2. Includes commitment to stop criminal acts
- not engaging in criminal acts
3. Participate through policymaking
- public decides how police operate
- what resources are available
- help establish goals / objectives
4. Apprehend / try / punish offenders
- loose confederation of agencies
a. No single justice system in this country
- similar / but uniquely individual
b. Cases can / are handled differently
- police procedures / state laws different
- administrative practices / police training
J. Ethical policing
- ethics / values / principles / morals / integrity
- “buzz words” within our contemporary culture
1. Become almost meaningless today
- thrown about by politicians / talk-shows /
even society as a whole
- may lost meaning but not their importance
- still strive to hold society to moral standard
a. Ethical standards in differing professions
- US Senate = “ethics committee”
- ABA = cannons of judicial ethics and
- doctors swear to “Hippocratic Oath”
- young men of the world: “Boy Scout Oath”
b. Every profession / trade / corporation /
organization has a specialized moral code
- defines ethical behavior required of it’s
members
2. Even with solemn / public oaths
- news is full of ethical violations
a. Compromised senators and legislators /
disgraced ministers-priests / disbarred
lawyers / doctors stripped of their license
c. We see it constantly
- few understand the concept of ethics
- and application to our own lives
3. Law enforcement – expected to maintain
some of the highest ethical standards
- highly visible members of the community
- constantly being watched
- rarely forgiving for ethical shortcomings /
breath of public trust
4. Law enforcement also has a code of ethics
- solemn oath adopted by International
a. Academies require cadets to memorize
- codes adopted by states / require each
officer to swear to
b. Media full of stories of corrupt/discredited
police officers
- excessive force
- corruption / theft / burglary / murder
c. Code of ethics means very little
- swearing a code does not mean you
understand it
- understanding does not mean you
5. Ethical values / principles / and integrity
- cornerstone of law enforcement
- strong foundation to carry officers through
their careers
Ethical Policing
CJUS 104 – definitions
1. Code – any system of rules or principles. The
Law Enforcement Code of Ethics is a basic
system of ethical rules for police officers.
2. Ethics – the principles of conduct dealing with
what is right and wrong, and with moral duty
and obligation. The rules in the Code of Ethics
describe the moral duties and obligations of
police officers.
3. Integrity – closely related to honesty, integrity
is the firm and incorruptible adherence to a
code of moral values. To truly follow the Law
Enforcement Code of Ethics requires not only
firmness but greater inner strength and
character.
4. Morals – the judgments we make relating to
societal principles of right and wrong behavior.
The duties of a police officer under the Code of
Ethics deal primarily with principles for rules
about what is “right” and what is “wrong.”
5. Oath – a formal and solemn commitment,
usually asking God and others to witness that
you sincerely intend to do what you say, and
promising that what you say is the absolute
truth when a police officer swears to the Law
Enforcement Code of Ethics, he promises that
he intends to follow and obey these rules and
asks God and others to witness and hold him
accountable to that promise.
6. Principles – a rule or code of conduct. The
Code of Ethics are the basic rule that every
police officer must follow and a system of rules
that must control your behavior both on-duty
and off-duty.
7. Values – a principle or quality that is
intrinsically desirable. These are the priorities
that an individual gives to the elements in his
life and career based on his ethics, morality,
and integrity.