Authenticity and Integrity in a Digital World

In the era of “fake news” and knowledge overload by social media, it is troublesome to type out and distinguish integrity. It is difficult to sift out if the information comes from a reliable supply, or in other words, comes from a source primarily based on integrity. “You don’t lose your integrity, you give it away.” This statement appears to be very true in modern-day policing. Integrity does appear to be missing among many leaders today, yet, ironically, integrity and different ethical standards are core themes among the various leadership styles.

In the midst of today’s culture, having integrity is key to well-being. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of integrity is a firm “firm adherence to a code of particularly moral or inventive values: incorruptibility.” In the following paragraphs, I will detail a few of the key parts of integrity and its significance to turning into a police officer.

Firstly, one of the essential characteristics is honesty or truthfulness.

A person who offers with situations with integrity is somebody who is coping with them actually. However, they not solely convey honesty but use fact as an ethical compass to information them. If honesty is compromised this opens the door for the opportunity to be swayed by many influences. Whether these influences are positive or negative, the person turns into corruptible. As a regulation enforcement officer, honesty or truthfulness is crucial to one’s character. Police officers are given authority and if they do not carry it out with honesty, they are prone to corruption leading to using that authority for damaging purposes.

They not turn out to be an excellent example for the community and consequently, the group now not sees integrity in policing as a complete.

Another important attribute of integrity is accountability. Guided by honesty and reality as mentioned above, a person who has integrity will maintain him or herself accountable for their actions. This doesn’t only imply that they may hold themselves accountable when they are doing good issues, however in addition they maintain themselves responsible once they make mistakes. Having integrity does not mean that an individual won’t ever make a mistake, but it implies that they’ll instantly own up to the mistake and instantly try to restore it. For instance, if an officer made a mistake while writing a report, it is important that the officer attempt to amend that report back to accurately mirror what happened.

Thirdly, humility should also be thought-about a vital attribute of integrity. As talked about earlier than, people with integrity aren’t expected to be perfect folks that by no means make a mistake. Therefore, they recognize that they might not know every thing, they usually even have an understanding that they will always be studying. They are keen to learn new values and information that may hold them trustworthy and accountable. A person with integrity won’t know they’ve integrity unless put via conditions and encounters with adverse influences. Therefore, an integral individual will remain humble recognizing that they will continually study classes of honesty and accountability. A police officer who has integrity might be keen to learn from neighborhood members and not distance themselves from these she or he serves.

The final subject to be mentioned is having good moral values. When talking about having good ethics you have to be able to recognize that you’re held to a better normal as a legislation enforcement officer. Ethics is a word that can be outlined as proper behavior, however the word has so many other words that fit, corresponding to honor, selfless sacrifice, and private braveness. Socrates stated, “To know the nice is to do the nice.” The law enforcement code of ethics states “As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the group; to safeguard lives and property; to guard the innocent in opposition to deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful in opposition to violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality, and justice. I will hold my non-public life unsullied for instance to all and will behave in a manner that doesn’t bring discredit to me or to my company. I will maintain brave calm within the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint, and be continually aware of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed both in my private and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the law and the regulations of my division. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that’s confided to me in my official capability might be stored ever secret until revelation is necessary for the performance of my responsibility. I won’t ever act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, political beliefs, aspirations, animosities, or friendships to affect my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will implement the regulation courteously and appropriately without concern or favor, malice or ill will, by no means using unnecessary force or violence and by no means accepting gratuities. I acknowledge the badge of my office as an emblem of public religion, and I settle for it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of police service. I will never have interaction in acts of corruption or bribery, nor will I condone such acts by different law enforcement officials. I will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.I know that I alone am answerable for my own commonplace of skilled efficiency and can take every affordable opportunity to boost and improve my stage of information and competence.”

We should maintain ourselves to that larger standard of conduct each in our professional as well as private lives, as anticipated by the common public. Law enforcement officers should commit to the best ethical and moral standards, which means they can’t be prejudice or favor somebody with out knowing each element and must present good personal conduct, have high integrity on and off responsibility. Ethics are important for legislation enforcement as a outcome of it retains particular person personnel from stepping outside the boundaries and helps in achieving as much equity as possible. There will at all times be individual law enforcement officers that drift outdoors their boundaries, however the hope is that in the future those unhealthy apples that do exist in each department finally find yourself being held answerable for their actions as a result of in the lengthy term the actions of the bad apples outweigh the actions of the law enforcement officers who really want to make a distinction of their respective communities. Being aware that others are looking as much as you and having the flexibility to present initiative in getting the job done properly and with empathy goes a good distance for the neighborhood as a whole. As a legislation enforcement officer being able to give the community the relatability and belief that must be earned for them to trust you is a sacrifice. Developing management skills is at the foundation of being a excessive quality law enforcement officer and thereby having a excessive quality agency. There are two neglected areas in policing today that must be addressed in order for the group to feel as if we are doing our jobs morally and ethically correct. Those two documents are the oath of workplace that is taken by every police officer on this nation and the code of ethics. These two paperwork serve as the physique for legislation enforcement officers and their respective departments to construct trust and honesty among the many community. As legislation enforcement officers we now have to remind ourselves every day that the neighborhood we serve is the neighborhood that we stay in, we are nothing without the group if they turn their backs on us as a end result of we now have not accomplished the right issues of their eyes.

Ethical decisions are a crucial part of a law enforcement officer’s job. The legislation enforcement officer will likely be faced with making a decision of this nature time and again throughout their profession. In most cases a call that the regulation enforcement officer makes will either make or break them as a police officer and the decision they make will either strengthen or weaken their ethical values.

Personally, integrity has made a robust impact on me via the totally different leaders and people who I even have encountered. One individual that I look as a lot as is my mom. She has been capable of provide me with a fantastic instance of integrity. My mom has all the time been trustworthy in all aspects- financially when interacting together with her household, and her employment. Similarly, she has at all times been accountable for her actions. She is prepared to admit her mistakes and learn from them thus also exhibiting humility from this. She lives up to the definition of integrity, never allowing anybody or anything to deprave her.

In summary, honesty, accountability, humility, and moral values are simply a variety of the characteristics of integrity. There are many others. However, all go hand in hand and are like pieces fitting into a puzzle. Integrity is one’s private life is important as a outcome of it varieties your identification. If one has integral folks round them, they have a larger chance of additionally having integrity. Even if an individual does not have these optimistic influences, they are to be the ones who exemplify integrity for others. Essentially that is what we’re being taught within the academy. The instructors are continuously attempting to instill integrity in us. They acknowledge that whether or not we’ve had examples of integrity or not, they may step in and be these examples. It is important that we worth this as police recruits as a end result of they truly understand what it means to have integrity as a law enforcement officer. It can be silly for us to imagine that we’ll have integrity as legislation enforcement officers if we’re not even capable of exemplify that is the Essex county police academy. They try to ascertain a culture of integrity even before we become law enforcement officers in our communities.

With today’s challenges in policing, it is important that integrity is displayed when out in the field as a regulation enforcement officer. Because of national media protection, neighborhood members already view legislation enforcement officers as lacking in integrity even before they meet the officers due to what’s proven on tv. Law enforcement officers are seen as corrupt and as exerting their authority for selfish ways. Many neighborhood members imagine that a regulation enforcement officer’s sworn oath is now not to “protect and serve,” but to “protect the self.”

Integrity in policing is about guaranteeing that the people who work for the police uphold the values of the service, strive to do the best thing in all conditions and have the boldness of the public. Any compromise of the trust established by regulation enforcement can result in disorder in the community. It is not merely about whether or not the basic public thinks the police are involved in corruption and misconduct, though clearly, this is important. It is also about how nicely the law enforcement officers make decisions, cope with situations, and deal with people day in, time out.

If the basic public does not trust the police to be fair and act ethically and in their finest interests, the proof suggests they will be more likely to break the regulation and be much less inclined to help the police. As regulation enforcement officers, in modern-day policing we’re referred to as on to be extra than just somebody who upholds the legislation and put people in jail, we are called on to wear many alternative hats and have many different roles to maintain the common public secure and give the peace of mind to have the flexibility to go away their houses and are available again safely with out the specter of hurt to themselves or other relations. As a law enforcement officer, I hope to vary this view all through the communities of the City of Newark. Through my experience thus far within the Essex county police academy, in addition to the examples of integrity in my personal life, I hope that my efforts will be ready to start a ripple effect towards the improvement of police-community relations. As I continue to reveal honesty, accountability, and humility, I hope to make a long-lasting impression in my career as a Newark police officer.