What about Law Enforcement Code of Ethics

The IACP has published a a toolkit. The IACP’s Oath of Honor is;

On my honor,
I will never betray my badge,
my integrity, my character,
or the public trust.
I will always have
the courage to hold myself
and others accountable for our actions.
I will always uphold the constitution
my community and the agency I serve.
More

Agencies have begun adopting Code of Ethics.
Personnel have begun adopting Code of Ethics.
What is done when the code of Ethics or Oath is broken by the leadership?

What can be done? Who will even know? Who will even care?
Do we need accountability at all levels?

POLICE Magazine

Watch What You Post

Social networking sites are great for meeting new people and having some fun, but don’t let that fun kill your career.

by Dean Scoville

via POLICE Magazine.

Snippet of Article.

Cops, like any other members of a high-stress profession, like to joke around about what happens at work. Many of these jokes would be considered crude or insensitive, perhaps even slanderous, by people who don’t work as police officers. But as long as the public doesn’t hear these jokes then the attitude of most administrators is no harm, no foul.

Unfortunately, such cop jokes are now being voiced in public. A generation ago, when cops wanted to blow off steam, they met some place private, had a few beers, and nobody outside the circle knew what was said or done.

Do Police have the right to pursue secondary employment while on the job?

When public safety personnel entered into the profession of law enforcement there was no guarantee of great sums of money to be made. It was a good career with good benefits and if you played your cards right would be a milion dollar career when it is all over. It appears from time to time public servants forget the privledges they receive because they wear the uniform.

When officers make their pursuit of secondary employment income their primary job their is huge potential for conflict of interest. Officers are wearing the uniform the agency they work for allows them to; they receive higher than average part-time wages because they are “Professionals” and some work so much they become a safety risk to themselves, their fellow officers and the citizens they swore to protect.

It goes without saying each of us want to provide a little nicer life for our loved ones. We want to have the nicer things in life. We want to be able to send our kids to private schools or to private lessons in the activity of their choice. It is human nature; only one more buck, one more month, one more day, one more hour is all I need and I will [FILL IN THE BLANK]. When it comes to work though, where should the line be drawn on, what is right and fare?

Unfortunately officers quickly forget they are only getting the secondary employment pay they do because of the uniform they wear. If anyone of them were to walk up in plain clothes, and say to the same employer, “Hey I will work for $30.00 an hour protecting your store from shoplifters.” do you think the store owner would pay? If they would there wouldn’t be any real police on the streets, they would all quit to become crime prevention specialist for the local Circle K. It is because of the skills, training and standards certified police officers are held to that allows them to command such premium pay for part-time work. Is it not all provided by the agency? If left to their own would the individual officer maintain their training? Realistically, probably not. So thanks to the training they receive to do their primary work they have skills enabling them to do secondary employment. So the agency really does have the right to say who, what, when, where and for how long their personnel are allowed to engage in secondary employment activities.

If it were not for the primary job they would never get the secondary job to begin with. So do you feel police officers have the right to pursue secondary employment while on their agency’s time? Isn’t it like perpetually looking for another job on company [agency] time; being paid to do one job as you pursue work with another employer?

Definition of Accountability

Before you can ever gain control of accountability, you must first understand the concept of accountability and we do this by starting with the simple definition.

Accountability n.

The state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account; the obligation to bear the consequences for failure to perform as expected; accountableness. «The awful idea of accountability.» R. Hall.

Syn. — answerability, answerableness

The obligation imposed by law or lawful order or regulation on an officer or other person for keeping accurate record of property, documents, or funds.

The person having this obligation may or may not have actual possession of the property, documents, or funds.

Accountability is concerned primarily with records, while responsibility is concerned primarily with custody, care, and safekeeping.

– Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

Responsibility

re·sponsi·bly adv. [Synonyms:
responsible, answerable, liable, accountable, amenable]

These adjectives share the meaning obliged to answer, as for one’s actions, to an authority that may impose a penalty for failure. Responsible often implies the satisfactory performance of duties or the trustworthy care for or disposition of possessions: "I am responsible for the ship’s safety" (Robert Louis Stevenson).

Answerable suggests a moral or legal responsibility subject to review by a higher authority: As when The court held the parents answerable for their minor child’s acts of vandalism.

Liable may refer to a legal obligation, as to pay damages or to perform jury duty: Wage earners are liable to income tax.

Accountable especially emphasizes giving an account of one’s discharge of a responsibility: "The liberal philosophy holds that enduring governments must be accountable to someone beside themselves" (Walter Lippmann).