By David Aspland, School of Policing Studies, Charles Sturt University
FUTURE ISSUES FOR ETHICS EDUCATION IN POLICING
Introduction
The purpose of this discussion paper is to identify some of the ethical issues that are going to be confronting individual police officers in the future, as well as policing as a whole, and how the future police officer will have to contemplate some of these issues in the light of organisational, social and personal ethics. This paper is intended to present a range of issues in a “broad brush stroke” rather than in depth with the aim of conducting this more focussed research at a later time. The issues considered in this paper look forward only about 10 to 15 years to the year 2020, as this time frame is considered realistic for research.
As policing moves into the 21st Century it is going to face a range of challenges and issues that it has not had to deal with before. Globalisation presents a range of challenges to individual law enforcement agencies as crime becomes transnational in character and respects no international boundaries. Legislation will struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of change due to technology and demographic change.
The police officer of the 21st century will more and more have to rely, in the critical thinking and decision making process, on his or her ethical sense of what is right and will be faced with a range of moral dilemmas that cannot be addressed by the mere mechanical application of legislation. Critical thinking and decision making by individual police officers, and by law enforcement organisations as a whole, will become a paramount skill in navigating the complexity of the modern policing workplace and environment. In this, the police organisation has an obligation to provide a clearly articulated Code of Ethics that can be adhered to and be relied upon to support police officers in making decisions in grey areas that are not wholly covered by legislation, where legislation is failing or where the strict use of legislation is not appropriate to effectively resolve the situation. It is the police discretion that interprets legislation at the “coalface”, to take action or not take action that makes the application of sound ethical decision making paramount in policing, as the legitimacy of policing rests on the notion of community acceptance of the policing role.
Having said that the future will be more complex and change more rapid in the future, the 21st century police officer will also have to contend with most of the issues that beset his or her predecessors. The notions of keeping the peace and upholding the law, right and wrong, accountability, service to the community and protection of life and property have not changed and still form the bedrock on which policing rests (Hayes 1995). Policing is, by its nature and function, socially conservative and designed to uphold the status quo and many “old skills” of policing are just as important was they were to previous generations of police who faced the massive changes and upheavals that typified much of the 20th century.
As opinions in society become more fractured and polarised the complexity of decision making in the police work environment increases manifold. The Police Officer of the future will be the product of this complex environment and a study of this environment is crucial in determining the issues that he or she will face. Each of the areas looked at could be a topic of in depth research in its own right, however at this point a more general overview is deemed necessary to create an overall picture of emerging ethical issues facing policing.
Futurism and Futures Studies are not new concepts. It was first conceived as a formal method of study as early as 1941 by the U.S. Military to determine the state of the United States and the World generally as World War 2 progressed. Scenarios looking at politics, society, the economy and technology were forecast with considerable accuracy (Wang 2007). Futures Studies are also the “bread and butter” of the Intelligence function of business to predict market and financial trends.
The Nature of Ethics in Police Decision Making
The discretionary nature of much of the police mandate makes a clear understanding of ethical principles essential for police. These principles come from a range of sources, the officer’s upbringing, the society in which the officer lives and the police work environment in which the officer serves. “What is the right thing to do? What is the right thing for whom? What does the law say? What does my community expect? What does my organisation expect?” It is obviously desirable that police organisations are in tune with the expectations of the society they serve (Hayes 1995). The often conflicting nature of the ethical decision making in policing is reflective of this multiplicity of sources. It is this that makes ethical decision making in policing the challenging function that it is, as the police officer often has to consider the same issue from a range of perspectives, some of which may conflict with his or her personal perspectives.
Most modern police organisations now provide support for the individual police officer in the form of a “Code of Conduct and Ethics” or a “Statement of Values” which clearly articulate the expectations of the organisation and the notion of the ‘greater good of policing”. It should be emphasised that no matter how well these Codes and Statements are articulated, it still requires the efforts of the individual officer to make them work. An examination of the 1935 “Basic Principles for the Police” of Nazi Germany shows a remarkable similarity to modern Codes of Ethics in many other democratic police organisations of the present day (Themis 1996 p18).
The Police Officers themselves are a product of this environment having been brought up in the social, educational and religious strictures of the society around them. This obviously will affect them and how they think of the world (Sommers 1993). Do they come to the policing profession with a sense of defined right and wrong or are they a moral agnostic? What values to they hold as absolutes and what will they negotiate on? What kind of Police Officer do they want to be? What are the standards and culture of the organisation that they are joining and how well are they standards articulated to the organisation?
The ongoing change is going to require the police officer of the future to have a highly developed sense of social context for his or her role. Also, the officer is going to have to possess a highly developed intellect in order to apply the decision making function appropriately. This is part of the move toward policing being accepted as a “profession” rather than just a “job”. This is an area of argument that will go on for a long period of time, however by defining this area of ethical understanding and decision making as an essential part of police professionalism as it pertains to the individual police officer then it is extremely relevant (Davis 1991). Employing mediocrity might be financially expedient today but it will cause significant problems tomorrow (Levin 2006).
What is the nature of the future ethics that the police officer is likely to face? The future issues are not a certainty and there is no crystal ball into which one can gaze in order to gain some insight. However, using sound Intelligence processes it is possible to view current and emerging trends and extrapolate some reasonable projections and hypotheses.
The Issues as They Apply to Policing
By applying the concept of Futures Modelling it is possible to gain an insight into upcoming trends and issues. But where do they lie? The following groups represent a range of ethical topics that are, in the opinion of the author, important to Police Officers in the future. Some are a constant, some are new and emerging. All require research. For ease of research the topics have been broken into a range of subgroups. Some subgroups will overlap, whilst others are quite distinct and separate.
General
Police Ethics will always involve the notion of “Back to the Future” with ethical issues that remain as important as they have been in the past e.g. accountability, responsibility, the use of coercive force, discretion, corruption, conflict of interest and the use of power and authority. These issues are at the bedrock of the legitimacy of policing in the democratic context and therefore will not change regardless of the future environment into which they are placed. What are the true roles of police, to prevent crime or to fight criminals (Reiman 1997)? Should the nature of society change, and become something other than democratic, then the issues will change. However, at present the general trend in democratic societies is towards higher levels of scrutiny and accountability of policing by the community as a whole (Hayes 1995).
One of the paramount factors affecting many ethical decisions by police is the area of lifestyle issues of police (drugs, alcohol etc). This raises an area of familiar offences. As an example, Operation Abelia from the New South Wales Police Integrity Commission showed significant issues in the use of recreational drugs by some police and issues in handling these offences by close acquaintances and friends in a social setting. This created a number of dilemmas for the police exposed to this situation as to what course of action to take.
Changing community views have always been a driver of organisational ethics. As police are recruited from the larger community they reflect the attitudes and standards of that broader community, by and large. The standards of the police organisation and the culture of the workplace will have a significant impact on shaping the views of police but they will also reflect the changing standards of the community and this in turn will impact on their ethical decisions. This idea impacts in areas such as “what is antisocial behaviour? What standards are applied here? How is the law interpreted in different circumstances?
Technology
Nothing stirs the public imagination in the area of law enforcement than the areas of Intelligence and Technology. Both of these areas are becoming increasingly intrusive into the lives of ordinary citizens.
Intelligence Led Policing was introduced into the New South Wales Police as a key strategy in the late 1990s. It was a component part of the Integrated Crime Management Model based on the British Model in vogue at that time. Intelligence is, by its very nature, intrusive. Police Intelligence has always been a basis for action but its high level of integration in organisation strategy is a relatively new phenomenon. The organised gathering, analysing and dissemination of intelligence give police access to unprecedented amounts of information on their fellow citizens. This, in turn, places a great deal of onus on police to use the information and resources ethically and properly. Most Police Codes of Conduct and Ethics now contain some reference to confidentiality and improper use of information available only to police officers.
Closely connected to Intelligence are the Computer Systems and Futuristic Technology (e.g. profiling, biometrics) that supports the Intelligence Process in law Enforcement. The police computer systems store immense amounts of highly confidential data on individuals and organisations which are of great value to a range of people and groups. Systems such as the New South Wales Police Computerised Operational Policing System are firewalled to prevent unlawful access and this places further pressure on the “weakest link” in the security system, the individual officer who has access to the system. There have been numbers of investigations, such as Operation Glacier, into the unlawful release of confidential information to a range of bodies by individual officers mostly for personal gain.
The area of developing and future technology is one that will highlight a range of ethical issues in policing. The development of Biometric identification systems are an example of this. Biometrics is the use of non-changing personal characteristics, such as iris and retina scans, gait scans, digital face recognition, palm geometry, voice recognition, handwriting identification and a number of other techniques (Hanson 2007). These can be used to allow access to bank accounts, security areas and computer systems but they also have applications in crowd control (as at sporting venues) and population movement.
These systems are becoming more widespread under the umbrella of anti-terrorism and security. Their application will be very widespread in the future and their ethical use will be a matter for policing. Also coming into play here is the public/private policing interface. Many of these technologies are being developed by private organisations not by governments so issues of accessibility and information sharing will arise out of their use.
Another area of technology that bears consideration is the police use of appointments in coercive force. Police have traditionally been permitted to use a range of specific appointments such as firearms, batons and handcuffs in their role, but what of emerging technologies in this area? The example that comes to mind is the Taser Gun, which is currently on trial with a number of Australian police forces. It has been used in the United States for some time. Is it a lethal level of force? How should it be treated? It is classified as a “less than lethal” level of force but a number of people have died of its effects in the United States. When trialled it is generally tested on police subjects who are quite healthy, when used operationally the subject may be affected by drugs, have a mental illness or any other number of health issues making them more susceptible to a fatal encounter.
It may be a fair observation that as technology moves forward rapidly, the social etiquette for use of the technology lags behind for a period of time. The technologies that are under development in the rush to curb the terrorist threat may prove this point quite pointedly.
Demographic
Population Movement (Illegal immigration, people smuggling, due to war, climate change, pandemic etc) will be one of the greatest ethical issues to affect law enforcement in the 21st century. The 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights provides a range of guidelines for refugees in this area, but what of the situation when these clash significantly with national sovereignty? What will be the role of police when confronted with population movement caused by a range of factors other than illegal immigration such as climate change where the homeland of the refugees has become untenable, or they are escaping disease pandemic.
The move towards Globalisation has led to Transborder and transnational crime on a scale not previously seen. The same methodology and technology that has supported the development of international business and multinational corporations has also facilitated the spread of “borderless” crime. The ability to move goods, money and people around the world has posed a range of issues for law enforcement agencies that are bounded by state and national borders. To what extent can police agencies co -operate. What of the differences in legal systems and practices? Can material or evidence obtained in one jurisdiction be used in another especially if that evidence was obtained in a way that is not ethical in the second jurisdiction? This situation is currently highlighted by the use by the United States of “off shore” facilities to hold and interrogate terror suspects or the recent case in Australia of “Jihad Jack” Thomas who was found not guilty as the evidence and admissions obtained by an overseas Intelligence Service was held to be inadmissible in an Australian Court (McCulloch 2006 p361).
Another issue in dealing with Transnational crime are the criminals themselves. Many have no identity that is verifiable. What are their rights? Many also live in societies where different standards of behaviour apply in dealing with and responding to law enforcement agencies. This raises issues in the response of police to different perceived levels of threat.
This also raises the issue of dealing with external police forces in the context of globalisation e.g. Indonesia. In the aftermath of the 2005 Boxing Day Tsunami and the Bali Bombing, Australian Police Forces co-operated very successfully with a number of overseas police forces in the region to carry out disaster victim identification, evacuation of people involved in the disasters. But what of criminal investigations that highlight the differences in the respective legal systems such as the Schapelle Corby Case and the Bali Nine Case, where the sharing of information by an Australian police force with an overseas police force could lead to a death sentence being carried out upon Australian citizens? This is especially significant given the fact that there is no death penalty in any Australian jurisdiction and the ethical dilemma that would face an individual handing over that information would be difficult.
In the same light, terrorism and the investigation of terrorist incidents together with the sharing of information and intelligence raises another range of ethical issues. Are the agencies with which Australian police agencies dealing as secure as ours? Are there issues of corruption or compromise that could see this information or intelligence fall into the wrong hands? Will it be used effectively? Is it appropriate to share information with agencies that may have a less controlled approach to the use of lethal force?
Organisational
Since the mid 1990s there has been a move away from military rank structures in many police organisations. The Wood Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service highlighted a range managerial issues associated with poor managerial practices exacerbated by the “top down” management approach facilitated by the military rank structure of the organisation. It is a paradox of policing that those with the least amount of organisational rank and authority working with the public, the patrol constable, are those with the greatest amount of discretionary decision making capacity. This has always been the case and the need for a high level of ethical understanding is required in this work environment.
There have been moves to flatten organisational rank structures to facilitate this decision making and empower the lower ranks of the organisation, but these moves have often been met with varying degrees of resistance for organisational and cultural reasons. Moves to flatten out the rank structure in New South Wales in the late 1990s under the reforms of Commissioner Peter Ryan, have by and large been reversed for these ongoing reasons, with many ranks previously marked for deactivation e.g. Senior Sergeant, Chief Inspector and Chief Superintendent returning to their former function.
Paradoxically, increasing issues in Public Order Policing have led to an increase in paramilitary policing styles which are supported by legislation to control public disorder. These methods are viewed as the antithesis of Community Policing (McCulloch 2001 p3). The Cronulla Riots in December 2005 saw immediate amendments to the New South Wales Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act (LEPRA) with enhanced authority to stop and search vehicles and persons and to “lock down’ ‘target’ areas in which disturbances were occurring. In the last quarter of the 20th Century there was a proliferation of paramilitary police units (such as the New South Wales Police SPSU and OSG) in police forces that had previously not employed them to any degree.
The availability of these units has had an effect on Organisational Strategy and Tactics, both positive and negative. On the positive side police confronted with critical incidents are instructed to ‘contain and negotiate” and this has the effect of diffusing many incidents. On the reverse of this, there has been a move towards more aggressive policing styles which unless they are carefully controlled can lead to abuses and over reactions. Self discipline and ethical behaviour is a crucial support for the overall success of this mode of policing.
Police in the future will find themselves increasing required to enforce restrictive legislation that will curtail Human Rights in many areas. The present push to counter terrorist activities on the global scene is seeing greater restrictions on travel and access than ever before as nation states attempt to enhance border and internal security and protect its citizens (sometimes from attacks by fellow citizens as in the case of the 2005 London Bombings). This may require an ethical balance between “upholding the law” and “upholding Rights” in the decision making by the police involved (McCulloch 2006).
Another facet of modern policing that has evolved to meet the requirements of the modern crime environment is the concept of multi agency operations in areas of expertise. In areas of complex crime, agencies come together to share expertise and this requires the police involved to be mindful of their own organisations ethical standards as well as the standards of the task group they are working in.
This is particularly true in the increasing private/public policing interface. As private policing becomes a greater reality in many societies, the connection between public and private policing organisations will become more extended. The terms “hybrid” or “plural” policing have already been coined to describe this development (Hoogenboom 2006 p373-4). However, where are the lines drawn between organisations that are on the one hand driven by the notions of the public good and service, and on the other driven by a profit motive and service to an individual client? What are the guidelines for information sharing and co operation?
An extension of the concepts discussed above applies to police overseas operations. In recent years Australian Police have been involved in a myriad of extraterritorial operations in overseas locations (McCulloch 2006 p362). Many were under the umbrella of the United Nations, some were Multinational operations. Starting in Cyprus in the 1960s, Australian police have later been deployed to Cambodia, Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands since 1990. Again issues arise about jurisdiction, rules of engagement (bearing in mind that Australian police are operating in a foreign country often at the request of the government of that country). Also what of the situation where other agencies do not apply the same standards as are required in the Australian jurisdiction from which the police are drawn?
Social
As has been discussed above in the evolving society and environment in which police operate there is also an evolving role of police. Together with a range of issues which could be considered strictly “law enforcement” police are also involved in a large number of social issues which draw upon the ethical decision making capacity of the individual officer. As far back as 1979 Inspector (later Commissioner) John Avery of the New South Wales Police Force, in his work “Police Force or Service” identified that the majority of policing was service oriented.
There has been a renewal of focus on Problem Oriented Policing and Community Policing strategies. These concepts were originally put forward in the 1970s and 1980s. By the mid 1980s Community Based Policing was being heralded as ‘the principal operating strategy of the New South Wales Police’. Yet within a decade it had virtually disappeared from organisational rhetoric. Problem Oriented Policing is another area that has enjoyed a resurgence of interest. This differs from Community Policing in that it uses intelligence processes and community consultation to identify specific issues and then design policing strategies to resolve those issues (Clark & Eck 2003). With its focus on “street level policing” Community Policing requires a greater level of interaction between the individual police officer and the community around (Brogden & Nijhar 2005 p39). This in turn leads to a much greater emphasis on ethical decision making. Both of these areas present ethical issues for police working with the community, when there is a demand for a resolution to a range of issues with police often the ‘meat in the sandwich’ between opposing groups and interests.
Directly linked with the strategy of Community Policing is the issue of multiculturalism. With recent events in Australia such as the Cronulla Riots, the concept of multiculturalism has come under some public scrutiny. The policing of a “Liberal Democratic Multicultural society” requires great flexibility on the part of police, who often find themselves in between conflicting groups. Also with a push for “Australian Values” to be adopted by the broader community, the role of policing in this context is also subject to examination. There has been a proactive push in recent years in police recruiting to obtain a staffing profile that is more in line with the broader community as a whole. This can only benefit the organisation and community as a whole in the longer term, but it does place pressure on individual officers when they may be placed in a position where family or community loyalties clash with their loyalty to the greater good of policing. In 2006 the NSW Police released a very comprehensive “Conflict of Interest Policy” that specifically details this form of conflict as an issue.
Also in this community context, some social theorists are predicting a greater divide between “Rich” and “Poor” with the outcome of these demographic changes being that public policing will more and more be involved on in the domain of policing the poor, whereas the rich will be policed (or rather be secured) by private policing and security companies. This will raise the question of whether public police are there for the community as a whole or whether they are an agent of social control. What will be the role of police in the future given the proliferation of pseudo policing agencies that investigate corporate crime or other specialist areas, often without reference to public policing agencies in that area. The question is even starting to be raised as to whether public authorities are even still the primary providers of security (Hoogenboom 2006 p374).
As public policing agencies struggle to balance budgets they will have to compete in some areas with highly resourced pseudo police agencies from either the public or private sectors. This also raises the issue of corporate sponsorship for public police agencies. This raises a range of ethical dilemmas for police managers and the very really issues of conflict of interest. Is it appropriate to accept this funding? Does it create a relationship between the parties that could lead to compromise? What are the safeguards? What unintended consequences could flow in the future? With recent controversies involved “Public Private Partnerships” (PPPs) in other areas, most notably the Cross City Tunnel in Sydney, these areas are fraught with ethical pitfalls for public sector managers and also for individual police officers as police were required in the above case to enforce traffic flow changes to public streets designed by a private company to enhance traffic flow through the Cross City Tunnel which was a profit making tollway.
This situation is not limited to police agencies with other government agencies facing similar constraints. The most obvious example of this is the Mental Health system that has been under criticism as being inadequately resourced for some time. Police involvement in this area has got to the stage where Police Commissioners are expressing concern about the level of police resources being drawn into an area where police are not specifically trained to deal with the issues of the individuals involved. Police are often put in a position where they have to consider alternative or expedient solutions for a situation that cannot be resolved through the formal processes of the system involved.
Individual police are being more involved in the resolution of social issues than ever before. The amount of police time involved in attending domestic disputes, family and neighbourhood disputes has grown exponentially in the past 25 years and individuals increasingly turn to police or other external agency to resolve their personal or domestic problems. This puts great pressure on individual police officers making decisions in what are often intractable situations.
This changing face of Australian society will also present police with a range of new situations that will require a high level of understanding by the individual police officer e.g. aging population of Australia will see an increase, or perception of increase, of crimes against the elderly and elder abuse. Many elderly victims may be suffering degenerative diseases that may make the strain of police proceedings beyond them, or the offences may involve members of the family as in elder abuse. These areas present a blurring of the lines as to what is a “crime” and what are “family interactions”. What will be the social responsibility of police in these situations? What other agencies are better equipped to handle these situations?
A flow on from the aging population is the ethical dilemma of Euthanasia or assisted suicide. This is an area of developing community debate with people living longer due to the suppression of preventable diseases but then become subject to chronic degenerative illness such as Dementia or Cancer. Many people wish to end their lives with dignity rather than be a burden on those around them. People assisting these people to end their lives can be charged with criminal offences, with some cases going before the courts recently to a range of discretionary decisions by the Judges involved. The ethical issues facing police in determining whether this is euthanasia or murder will put significant onus on police who first respond to these situations.
Also police response to those suffering from an increasing range of communicable diseases is another area where ethical issues will arise. Should police officers put themselves at risk attempting to save the lives (e.g. by resuscitation) of people suffering from life threatening illnesses such as HIV or Hepatitis? Is a blood filled syringe a threat of “death or grievous bodily harm” for the purpose of the use of lethal force by police? How should police treat persons suspected of having communicable diseases? These issues are still in the melting pot of social and legal consideration. However, it would be fair to say that police will be at the “sharp end” of the ethical decision making process.
Conclusion
The role of ethics in critical thinking and decision making in the future will be critical and the clear understanding of ethical principles by police is essential in helping them to navigate the increasingly complex environment in which police are expected to function and resolve issues where often legislation is not clear and leaves a range of discretionary alternatives. The ethical decisions made by police will shape the future directions of police organisations and policing as a whole.
Police ethics are in the mainstream of discussions on policing and form the bedrock of police legitimacy in a liberal democratic society. An understanding of the ethical underpinning of policing will also aid the future police officer to make decisions in situations that may not exist at the present time. The future issues of transnational crime, public order policing, terrorism, future police agency operations, social and lifestyle issues and future technology will all shape the world in which the police of the future will have to operate and it is of critical importance to begin to consider these issues now to research and prepare responses in a proactive rather than a reactive way.
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