Power/Authority/Position

There are many people who hold positions of power and authority: Doctors, Dentists, Teachers, Police, Politicians and anyone who garners respect within their position. An actor, a pilot, a president of a corporation. We instinctively trust these people, simply because of their position.

There is no way of getting around a visit to your doctor or dentist. Placing our trust in them, we don’t question their intention, other than the purpose of their position, medical or dental care. While attending classes throughout our school years, we too trust that our teachers will live by a code of ethics.

As we grow, we develop morality and integrity and live by our personal rule, to respect each person as we respect ourself. Without morality and integrity, people would lose control over their actions, and society would be a bedlam of evil.

The largest conglomerate of power is the Police force.
The most important attributes of an individual applying for a job in law enforcement are the applicant’s integrity and moral behaviour. In order to be a law enforcement officer, individuals must demonstrate a life lived morally. Police are the Law enforcement officers and possess enormous amounts of power, which can be used against citizens to deprive them of their freedom, search them and their dwellings, seize their property, and use force against them. These powers are legally permitted under specific circumstances, and law enforcement officers are trained to know when these powers can be legally applied. As law enforcement officers rank among the most powerful occupations in society, what compounds their ability to use their power is that they are often in contact with relatively powerless and disenfranchised citizens who may be unable to resist an officer’s illegitimate use of that power. These powers are legally prescribed, and law enforcement officers are well aware of them. It is important that law enforcement officers not misuse their power.

Law enforcement officers possess enormous amounts of power, which can be used against citizens to deprive them of their freedom, search them and their dwellings, seize their property, and use force against them. These powers are legally permitted under specific circumstances, and law enforcement officers are trained to know when these powers can be legally applied. As law enforcement officers rank among the most powerful occupations in society, what compounds their ability to use their power is that they are often in contact with relatively powerless and disenfranchised citizens who may be unable to resist an officer’s illegitimate use of that power. These powers are legally prescribed, and law enforcement officers are well aware of them. It is important that law enforcement officers not misuse their power for the following reasons.

Power and authority are tools that law enforcement officers must use judiciously and ethically. Without an ethical life, this power will be misused, creating a power imbalance that is bad for the officer, the agency, and society.

References

Ethics in Law Enforcement – Steve McCartney and Rick Parent
Ethics and the pursuit of a law enforcement career

The ethics of power and authority

 

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