Police Accountability Framework

The New World of Police Accountability states, “it is a basic principle of a democratic society that the police are answerable to the public” (Walker & Archbold 8). This first chapter depicts how important police accountability is because “police are answerable to the public” (Walker & Archbold 8). If police officers participate in unethical practices it can cause the public to mistrust the police and ultimately “they will be less willing to report crimes, provide evidence of neighborhood problems, or even decline to identify offenders” (Walker & Archbold 8). Walker and Archbold created a police accountability framework that ultimately promoted ethical conduct. The accountability framework includes policy, training, supervision, and review

It goes on to stress how training is an important aspect of preparing officers to handle situations in an ethical manner as they had been taught in the academy. Additionally, supervision is a vital element because “sergeants are responsible for directly monitoring their officers…monitoring their actions, and directly interviewing when necessary or appropriate” (Walker & Archbold 19). This point helps reinforce the idea that officers need to be monitored and that sergeants are responsible for promoting ethical behavior from their officers. The last element of the framework, review, “consists of a variety of policies and practices that seek to learn from particular incidents and/or patterns of incidents” (Walker & Archbold 20). Review is crucial because it allows incidents to be examined and this allows incidents of misconduct to be scrutinized. Having misconduct analyzed will ultimately aid a police force and enable them to develop ethical solutions to a misconduct issue. The four elements of the accountability framework help emphasize how it is possible to conduct ethical practices in policing as long as there is policy, training, supervision, and review that reinforce ethical behavior (Walker & Archbold Chapter 1). This is an

Each reading touches on a different issue and will foster discussion among the officers. Police brutality has been an issue for decades and still is today. Brotherhood of Corruption is an important reading to help shed light on police brutality along with other ethical issues. The code of silence is one of the most prevalent ethical issues in policing and Walking with the Devil helps show officers how easily they can avoid partaking in it. The New World of Police Accountability provides officers with a framework that establishes and reinforces ethical conduct within the department. Lastly, Banks’ book shows how unethical policing practices can occur during interrogations and their detrimental consequences. All four of these issues are important for every police officer to be aware of and to help them enforce ethical practices within their