Ethics Of The Code Of Silence - 2111 Words

M E M O R A N D U M TO: Mayor Russ Pomrenke City of Justice, Georgia FROM: Chief Josh Erwin #1553 Justice Police Department DATE: March 19, 2016 RE: Ethical Update Plan of Action Dear Mayor Russ Pomrenke this memorandum was written to address a growing issue which has manifested itself within the Justice Police Department. The issue I am referring to is known as the â€Å"Code of Silence† and it has the potential to be the demise of the entire Justice Police Department. The â€Å"Code of Silence† refers to a phenomenon which occurs not only in our police department, but in all police departments. The â€Å"code of silence† is the loyalty between officers which prevents the officers from revealing any misconduct from other officers.†¦show more content†¦This will require an entire reformation of the Justice Police Department as a whole starting from the recruitment phase all the way to the policies and procedures in place in my office. I have collected data from many other agencies and studies and have compiled a list of standards which need to be reviewed and potentially implemented. The new standards are as follows: -Chief Administrator Actions Checklist 1.) All formal leaders are required to speak with those who directly report to them about integrity, loyalty, and the code of silence. Currently, most employees have never hand anyone to speak with them regarding integrity and the code of silence. This is a necessary change because if the issue is actually addressed by someone (a supervisor) then the officer will more likely speak out. Once the issue is addressed, it makes it much easier for the officer to speak about the matter because they may not feel as if they are going out of their way to call someone out but instead a supervisor is coming to them and asking regularly. 2.) The chief administrator becomes directly involved in the quality of background investigations by meeting with those who conduct backgrounds to ensure that they have completed background investigation seminar, are being given sufficient resources, understand how serious