Police Ethics

Police Ethics: The Corruption of Noble Cause, Fifth Edition, provides an analysis of corruption in law enforcement organizations. The authors argue that the noble cause – a commitment to “doing something about bad people” – is a central “ends-based” police ethic. This fundamental principle of police ethics can paradoxically open the way to community polarization and increased violence, however, when officers violate the law on behalf of personally held moral values. This book is about the power that police use to do their work and how it can lead police officers to abuse their positions at the individual and organizational levels. It provides students of policing with a realistic understanding of the kinds of problems they will confront in the practice of police work.

This new edition offers police administrators direction for developing agency-wide corruption prevention strategies through an application of the Model of Circumstantial Corruptibility. In response to recent issues affecting the relationship between police departments and minority communities, like the Black Lives Matter organization and the death of George Floyd, this new edition provides workable solutions. Finally, this edition contains a discussion on what might be an emerging trend in American policing the authors call the over-politicization of the policing function.