Select an incident of police misconduct, either past or present, from Assignment

Select an incident of police misconduct, either past or present, from a news source. From the viewpoint of a police supervisor, - Assignment Example Introduction Police misconduct represents unsuitable actions that are deemed unlawful, taken by those in the police force in connection with their formal responsibilities of say while making an arrest. Police misconduct is often an act that is not justifiable by the law and it mostly involves discrimination in the duties they are supposed to perform as police. In a bid to manage the misconducts by the police, there has been a fast emerging trend by the civilian /private agencies to go beyond review and engage in investigations directly and are known to have a greater input into decisions that regard discipline. Police misconduct can be of various types and degree. The following are some of the most common types of misconducts that police have been known to often engage in. The misconducts consist of, surveillance abuse, false confession, misconduct by an officer while off-duty, false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, falsified evidence, police brutality, false imprisonment, and police corruption. There are more actions in which an officer can be said to have acted in a show of misconduct. One such instance is where a police officer believes that the end justifies the means. By this I mean that a police officer believes that his cause is noble just because it yield good results. Another misconduct is when a police officer shows selective enforcement. This is the act where a police shows leniency to some people just because they are family, friends or people he has known before. Another notable misconduct is when an officer of the law flashes his badge often as a way of soliciting services, for example when he want to get a discount or gain access to a place (Martinelli, 2007). This is classified as abuse of power. We can also talk of covering up for wrongdoing through lying under oath. An officer while on duty is not allowed to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If so, the officer can be accused of misconduct and have to face disciplinary action. Every officer is expected to follow the set procedural policies while they are on duty and no violation of these policies is acceptable (Prenzler, 2004). It is believed that no police officer should rat out the other officer due to misconduct. The reason as to why this belief is there is because the police officers are thought to have shared a code of silence that makes them look the other way when they discover that a fellow officer acted in a manner that would suggest he did an action that amounts to misconduct. This so called code has been refuted by the police who say that it is non-existent and refer to it as a myth (Westmarland, 2005). Cases of police misconduct are often shown to be influenced by the education and personality of a police officer. In the news, cases of police misconduct are brought to the lime light in several occasions. Advancement in technology has enabled all squad cars in to be fitted with cameras that record the actions of an officer and this is one reaso n cases of police misconduct are being identified leading to a decrease in the cases of misconduct. Police officers must have the knowledge and skills to successfully do their tasks. High-quality, entry-level, area and in-service training programs are key to guaranteeing that officers not only understand the department’s objectives but have the capability to fulfill them. The departments of police and their