Importance of Ethics and Leadership in Policing
Ethical leadership refers to leading by doing what is right. Ethics refers to the standards that govern the conduct of individuals or members of a given profession. Some of the aspects that connote an ethical person include knowing right from wrong, committing oneself to do only what is right, and doing what is right. Leading is synonymous to parenting.
Policing calls for security agents to gain and uphold public trust. In order to earn community trust, the police and other security agents should adhere to the highest standards besides upholding laws and regulations. The importance of trust in law enforcement leadership is that it defines the reputation, confidence, and legitimacy. For instance, trust justifies the claim that security agencies are institutions bound by rules and dedicated to pursue justice and protect individual freedoms.
Doing what is right remains an ethical concept rather than a legal notion. As such, official or personal misconduct, can discredit an agency or a person. Doing the right thing is an important and effective strategy to risk-management. In order to lead and be effective in their work, security agencies must first understand their mandate. It is through ethical leadership that law enforcement agencies are able to nurture an ethical culture, make sound selection and recruitment procedures, inculcate ethical behavior, and accountability. These aspects are important as they enable law enforcement agents to uphold ethics in policing.
Security personnel make decisions that may produce great consequences. As such, members working to protect and preserve the lives and property of citizens must be honest, respectful, fair, responsible, and caring. However, if officers do not possess the foregoing qualities they tarnish the image of security agencies. For instance, if a community perceives an officer who is working in an organization to be dishonest and unfair, the neighboring community will be cynical about the ability of the agency to protect them. Consequently, the community will not be willing to cooperate with the security agents from that agency.
It is only through cooperation between the members of the public and the police that the performance of the later would be commensurate to their objectives. As such, it is the work of the police to offer leadership through inspiring, motivating, and guiding the public towards accomplishing the set objectives (Ortmeier, 2009). An effective leadership enables the police to share power and authority with the communities they seek to protect. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of law enforcement administrators to realize that they have a duty to improve the image of the police.
References
Ortmeier, P., Meese III, E. (2009). Leadership, Ethics and Policing: Challenges for the 21st
Century (Second Edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
