Importance of Ethics in the Criminal Justice System

Importance of Ethics in the Criminal Justice System

What makes an excellent internal affairs investigation?

The police have been known for conducting inadequate investigations throughout the decades, especially involving corruption and misconduct of other officers in the force. Significant faults have been found in many countries all over the world when police investigate colleagues in cases.There are inadequacies in planning, little use of electronic surveillance, improper interviewing of key witnesses in cases, breaching confidentiality, and not keeping timely investigations or decisions on cases involving cops. This article explores the requirements that make an internal investigation as being fair and considered as good. It also looks at the importance of ethics in the police department in a measure to improve criminal justice in the community.

Significant steps are needed in improving the quality of internal investigations and determine what counts as the best solutions to the existing issues. The entire internal inquiry quality has numerous faults and mistakes which need attention and swift measures to address them and bring back the trust that the public wants. The individuals entrusted with investigating police officers require efficient training, experience, logical thinking, open-mindedness, be experts, and have adequate performance indicators showing they are capable of handling police cases involving police officers. There is a need for incentives to be set aside for the entire process and should be in the form of promoting career experience, which will attract high integrity and qualified people for the positions of police investigators. These positions need guaranteed pay and grade-rise so that the investigators are assured of their positions in the department after completing the training.

The other key area to consider is the resilience of the investigators because cops see it as a way of catching and killing one of their own. That makes the role to be psychologically demanding and could affect their mental state, especially if taken for extended periods. The ability to resist external pressure is significant for the investigators as they work to bring sanity in the police force. Conflict of interest arises when investigators investigate relatives, friends, or officers from the same units and departments. Biases could arise in that situation prompting the investigators to hide crucial information concerning the police found in the wrong. The terms of investigations need to be formulated before the start to ensure that it is ethical under the states’ law. Proper authorization is vital, and actual complaints need to have been made for a warrant to be issued..

Key priorities of the department have to be put forward to avoid misusing the available resources for the investigation. The focus has to center on crime reduction, the organizational reputation, public confidence, and commitment of the investigators to pursue cases involving cops. Having open-mindedness will assist in truth discovery, which is the ultimate goal for the investigation process. Auditing will assist in providing accurate data and results for the entire process. It will provide quality of the interviews conducted, evidence collected, and all complaints considered before making the final decision of a case. All the data need verification and identification before making significant decisions in the cases, and all the agencies need to compile and come up with a unified agreement. Confidentiality is key, as it will indicate trust.

The investigators or any other person need not victimize cops under investigations by leaking crucial data, distorting pieces of evidence, or falsely accusing them of criminal activity.All rights of the victims have to be respected, and their privacy honored. Witnesses need protection too, and should not be forced to testify falsely, be paid, or threatened to issue a given statement regarding a cop. Communication is vital with all the stakeholders involved in an investigation case. No one should be left out of the process as it will lead to mistrust, misinformation, and improper conclusions or decisions in that case. Lastly, there should be a timely investigation and decision making to ensure victims get justice. Delaying results of a case results in victimization and breach of the rights of the victims and those affected by a particular case, which involves police officers. All processes have to take the shortest time possible, be accurate and provide substantial solutions, or justice to everyone.

Reaction to the Article

I agree with the entire findings of the report, as I believe that they are significant in improving the ethics in police departments and the trust of the public sector.Miller makes key points in the report, such as the efficient using of the few resources available, openness, proper communication, protection of crucial data, witness and victim protection, competence, and timely investigation, among others. For an investigation to be fair and good, all the points indicated in the article need consideration and improvement. It is essential to hold all cops in the force accountable for the acts they do. It will prevent others from misusing their position to victimize citizens, use excessive force, or go beyond police ethics while serving. However, what requires improvement is the identification of modern techniques of investigation like using scientific forensic tools, testing of integrity, and proper accountability of the resources used, plus the individuals selected as investigators for the cases.Satisfaction data need to be collected from the public regarding the whole process and improve on the weaknesses.

The information in the article can be applied in daily living. Individuals need to be accountable, open-minded, resilient, competent, and trustworthy in all the tasks given to them. It allows the public to view one as a responsible citizen, worker, friend, or person worth their trust. Ethics in the police force is important because it will provide everyone with equal justice. The victims, suspects, family members, and the entire public will feel valued and honored. Complex questions of a case will also be answered correctly, and the process will indicate whether all actions followed and complied with the law of the state. Additionally, all the aggravating issues of the case will be explained, together with the mitigations to solve them. A criminal justice system is meant to serve people in a justice way, not punish or victimize them by denying proper justice. Hence, it is important to maintain a set of ethics in internal investigations.

Refences

Miller, S. (2010). What makes a good internal affairs investigation? Criminal Justice

Ethics, 29(1), 29-40.