There are various instances where an officer in the criminal justice system finds themselves in situations where their integrity is put to test. One such instance is the scenario where a deli owner offers to pay for a sandwich that a uniformed police officer goes to buy. The professional and ethical standards that should be in place from the police department to assist the officer in his decision making is that a uniformed police should not accept gifts from civilians under any circumstances. This is because an officer who receives gifts from civilians might have a hard time maintaining their impartiality if and when a conflict arises between a civilian who offers gifts and another who does not. Accordingly, an officer, whether uniformed or not, should resist gifts from civilians because of the perception of other civilians who might perceive such gifts as bribes. As such, gifts to police officers from members of the public have the potential to damage the reputation of the receiving officer and the department as a whole.
With regard to the prison guard on patrol, the best professional and ethical standards that should be emanating from the prison administration to assist him with decision making is the need to abide by and enforce the set policies at all times. The guard should be able to understand that abiding by and enforcing the prison policies is necessary to foster professionalism. Such standards should also be able to make the guard realize that beyond the paycheck, the main objective of the correctional facility is to protect the public from dangerous criminals such as the one he is dealing with. As such, if he does not take the necessary action then he will not only be diminishing his standards, he will also be letting down the very public he set out to protect by deciding to work as a correctional officer. For the prison guard to make the necessary decisions he needs to be guided by the administration as well as his own standards which should embody core values such as discipline, truthfulness, and a sense of responsibility towards the public.
The basic constitutional principle that should guide a police officer when conducting an ethical and legal search of a probationer’s house is the presumption of innocence. Although the U.S. Constitution does not refer to this principle explicitly, the presumption of innocence follows the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth amendments. A police officer conducting a house search of a suspect should keep in mind that the owner of the house has not been proved guilty and it is not up to the officer to determine the guilty or otherwise of a suspect. Given that in criminal cases proof of crime is beyond reasonable doubt, it is only fair that the officer treats the probationer as an innocent person understanding that previous record of crime does not automatically follow that the person is a perpetual criminal. Ultimately, the adhering to the principle of innocence until proven guilty, the officer will be able to maintain impartiality while dealing with a probationer.
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) is a case where ethics and professional practice was a driving factor. In this case, the accused, JavaidIqbal, was a Muslim was arrested by federal officials after the 9/11 attack. He filed a case in a federal court claiming that his constitutional rights were infringed during his incarceration because he was not allowed to know the factual content relating to his arrest and charge. The court agreed that it was unethical for a prosecutor to prefer charges on general arguments rather than providing specific information for an alleged violation of the constitution. By reducing the power of the prosecution to bring general arguments, the court noted, albeit not expressly, that failure to bring factual content and arguments that leads to the charge displayed lack of professionalism. The impact of this case and the decision of the Court on subsequent criminal cases is that the prosecution must display professionalism by bringing proceedings that support the charge. As such, the court raised the standards of preferring charges.
Based on ethical and professional practices of each of the branches the career path that is most in line with my professional beliefs and professional disposition is the judiciary. This is because they have the benefit of evaluating the conduct of every practitioner within the criminal justice system and ensure that they uphold the highest ethical and professional standards as per the constitution. It is of great importance that the courts do not compromise on ethical and professional standards, otherwise the entire criminal justice system would be ineffective.
References
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
“Burden of Proof and Presumption of innocence” (2007). National Paralegal College. Retrieved
