There is no shortage of Internet sites that exist to report on police misconduct. In one particularly poignant example, it is alleged that an off-duty police officer had had a physical altercation with a member of the public in a bar. The account of the fight included the civilian suffering convulsions, being attacked with a pool cue and having one of his eyes dangling on his cheek as a result of the beating. As it turned out, there was an altercation but it in no way resembled the account offered on the Internet. The altercation could in no way be described as a beating and the civilian did not suffer convulsions and did not have an injury to his eye even remotely resembling that described.

Anyone reading the original account would have been left with the disturbing impression that the police officer had been involved in a vicious, prolonged beating of an innocent civilian. Given the millions of people who regularly surf the Internet, there is a very real likelihood that there are many people who may have read the account and believed it.

The result of this new pressure on the police is that the public may be more prone to believing that the police are capable of heinous acts. When one considers the impact and frequency of the Ro

Police services and the military have enormous powers conferred upon them by the state. Each has the ability to restrict or remove individual liberty and both have the overwhelming and unenviable right to use lethal force where necessary. These powers are, in large measure, the basis for citizens’ demanding that our organizations are founded on strong ethics, principles and values.

In the vast majority of cases, especially in days gone by, the military’s focus has been other than domestic. When they are dispatched to any operational situation anywhere in the world, including here in Canada, they very often become very involved in the domestic life of that country’s citizens, however.

As time passes and one views the tasking being given to Canada’s military, one can see more and more that the role is that of peacekeeper rather than warrior. This reality brings our military and our police even closer in terms of roles, responsibilities, values, principles and ethics.

Some of the Challenges

There are some realities within the culture of paramilitary organizations that may cause significant interference with effective communications both internally and externally. It is incumbent upon the leaders of these organizations to recognize, accept and properly counteract any negative aspects of their organizational culture.

It is not sufficient that a leader possess impeccable values. The leader must demonstrate these principles in daily interactions with others, and the leader must communicate these values to all employees regularly, consistently and unashamedly. There must be a very clear understanding by each and every member of the organization that ethics, values and principles are simply non-negotiable.

All too frequently, when an individual is discovered to have been involved in unacceptable behaviour, the ‘bad apple’ theory is held up as the answer. A ‘bad apple’ grows and develops in an environment that either condones or ignores the early warning signs, or in some cases tacitly approves of the indicative behaviour.

The difficulty with the ‘act and react’ approach is that it is often seen by the junior ranks as, at best a witch-hunt or at worst a hollow inquisition with obvious ulterior motives. Occasionally, some view the curative measures that are imposed as knee-jerk reactions to isolated incidents. As a result, there are virtually no long terms benefits realized. Occasionally, such actions can actually have significantly negative consequences.

This is not to minimize the general and specific deterrence of swift, impartial action by the administration. It is imperative, however, that the organization be alive to any and all signs of larger, more insidious issues and take proactive measures when and where appropriate.

To fully understand how misconduct can take place, and more importantly, how it is sometimes viewed by the transgressor’s peers, it is vitally important to take a close and critical look at the organizational culture in which the misconduct occurred. This examination can take several forms but the most fruitful may be a bottom-up, holistic approach.

Defining the Organizational Culture

Military and paramilitary organizations have, over many years, developed a culture they can truly call their own. Moreover, units within these organizations develop subcultures that must also be recognized. This is especially true of specialist or ‘elite’ units.

A good starting point for the analysis of any organization in terms of values, principles and ethics can and possibly should begin at the front lines. This analysis can help to identify the symptoms of any irregularities within the culture.

The Cultural Evolution

Activities and behaviours within a particular organizational culture sometimes indicate values and standards that differ widely from those outside that culture. This is not peculiar to police or the military. Almost every single organization in every conceivable sector has it own, individual culture.

Organizations that tend to have their own ‘language’; their own specific identity; their own atypical rules; are more susceptible to developing a culture that is some distance from the culture of mainstream society. The members of the organization often believe that their world is too different, too complex and too onerous for anyone outside the organization to begin to understand. This belief is the likely foundation of peculiar cultural values.

Until quite recently, police services were very definitely apart from society. Although they are sworn to serve and protect society, this sworn duty was most often performed in the manner decided upon behind closed doors by the police services themselves.

With the advent of Community Policing, Community Policing Advisory Committees, Community Satisfaction Surveys and other similar Law Enforcement efforts, any mystique that may have existed is being stripped away. Police officers are being seen more and more as human beings with all the human frailties everyone else in the community may possess. In short, the public is now more willing to believe that their police officers are capable of committing not only acts if misconduct, but also criminal acts.

There is no shortage of Internet sites that exist to report on police misconduct. In one particularly poignant example, it is alleged that an off-duty police officer had had a physical altercation with a member of the public in a bar. The account of the fight included the civilian suffering convulsions, being attacked with a pool cue and having one of his eyes dangling on his cheek as a result of the beating. As it turned out, there was an altercation but it in no way resembled the account offered on the Internet. The altercation could in no way be described as a beating and the civilian did not suffer convulsions and did not have an injury to his eye even remotely resembling that described.

Anyone reading the original account would have been left with the disturbing impression that the police officer had been involved in a vicious, prolonged beating of an innocent civilian. Given the millions of people who regularly surf the Internet, there is a very real likelihood that there are many people who may have read the account and believed it.

The result of this new pressure on the police is that the public may be more prone to believing that the police are capable of heinous acts. When one considers the impact and frequency of the Rod

Some of the Challenges

There are some realities within the culture of paramilitary organizations that may cause significant interference with effective communications both internally and externally. It is incumbent upon the leaders of these organizations to recognize, accept and properly counteract any negative aspects of their organizational culture.

It is not sufficient that a leader possess impeccable values. The leader must demonstrate these principles in daily interactions with others, and the leader must communicate these values to all employees regularly, consistently and unashamedly. There must be a very clear understanding by each and every member of the organization that ethics, values and principles are simply non-negotiable.

All too frequently, when an individual is discovered to have been involved in unacceptable behaviour, the ‘bad apple’ theory is held up as the answer. A ‘bad apple’ grows and develops in an environment that either condones or ignores the early warning signs, or in some cases tacitly approves of the indicative behaviour.

The difficulty with the ‘act and react’ approach is that it is often seen by the junior ranks as, at best a witch-hunt or at worst a hollow inquisition with obvious ulterior motives. Occasionally, some view the curative measures that are imposed as knee-jerk reactions to isolated incidents. As a result, there are virtually no long terms benefits realized. Occasionally, such actions can actually have significantly negative consequences.

This is not to minimize the general and specific deterrence of swift, impartial action by the administration. It is imperative, however, that the organization be alive to any and all signs of larger, more insidious issues and take proactive measures when and where appropriate.

To fully understand how misconduct can take place, and more importantly, how it is sometimes viewed by the transgressor’s peers, it is vitally important to take a close and critical look at the organizational culture in which the misconduct occurred. This examination can take several forms but the most fruitful may be a bottom-up, holistic approach.

Defining the Organizational Culture

Military and paramilitary organizations have, over many years, developed a culture they can truly call their own. Moreover, units within these organizations develop subcultures that must also be recognized. This is especially true of specialist or ‘elite’ units.

A good starting point for the analysis of any organization in terms of values, principles and ethics can and possibly should begin at the front lines. This analysis can help to identify the symptoms of any irregularities within the culture.

The Cultural Evolution

Activities and behaviours within a particular organizational culture sometimes indicate values and standards that differ widely from those outside that culture. This is not peculiar to police or the military. Almost every single organization in every conceivable sector has it own, individual culture.

Organizations that tend to have their own ‘language’; their own specific identity; their own atypical rules; are more susceptible to developing a culture that is some distance from the culture of mainstream society. The members of the organization often believe that their world is too different, too complex and too onerous for anyone outside the organization to begin to understand. This belief is the likely foundation of peculiar cultural values.

Until quite recently, police services were very definitely apart from society. Although they are sworn to serve and protect society, this sworn duty was most often performed in the manner decided upon behind closed doors by the police services themselves.

With the advent of Community Policing, Community Policing Advisory Committees, Community Satisfaction Surveys and other similar Law Enforcement efforts, any mystique that may have existed is being stripped away. Police officers are being seen more and more as human beings with all the human frailties everyone else in the community may possess. In short, the public is now more willing to believe that their police officers are capable of committing not only acts if misconduct, but also criminal acts.

There is no shortage of Internet sites that exist to report on police misconduct. In one particularly poignant example, it is alleged that an off-duty police officer had had a physical altercation with a member of the public in a bar. The account of the fight included the civilian suffering convulsions, being attacked with a pool cue and having one of his eyes dangling on his cheek as a result of the beating. As it turned out, there was an altercation but it in no way resembled the account offered on the Internet. The altercation could in no way be described as a beating and the civilian did not suffer convulsions and did not have an injury to his eye even remotely resembling that described.

Anyone reading the original account would have been left with the disturbing impression that the police officer had been involved in a vicious, prolonged beating of an innocent civilian. Given the millions of people who regularly surf the Internet, there is a very real likelihood that there are many people who may have read the account and believed it.

The result of this new pressure on the police is that the public may be more prone to believing that the police are capable of heinous acts. When one considers the impact and frequency of the Ro

This is not to minimize the general and specific deterrence of swift, impartial action by the administration. It is imperative, however, that the organization be alive to any and all signs of larger, more insidious issues and take proactive measures when and where appropriate.

To fully understand how misconduct can take place, and more importantly, how it is sometimes viewed by the transgressor’s peers, it is vitally important to take a close and critical look at the organizational culture in which the misconduct occurred. This examination can take several forms but the most fruitful may be a bottom-up, holistic approach.

Defining the Organizational Culture

Military and paramilitary organizations have, over many years, developed a culture they can truly call their own. Moreover, units within these organizations develop subcultures that must also be recognized. This is especially true of specialist or ‘elite’ units.

A good starting point for the analysis of any organization in terms of values, principles and ethics can and possibly should begin at the front lines. This analysis can help to identify the symptoms of any irregularities within the culture.

The Cultural Evolution

Activities and behaviours within a particular organizational culture sometimes indicate values and standards that differ widely from those outside that culture. This is not peculiar to police or the military. Almost every single organization in every conceivable sector has it own, individual culture.

Organizations that tend to have their own ‘language’; their own specific identity; their own atypical rules; are more susceptible to developing a culture that is some distance from the culture of mainstream society. The members of the organization often believe that their world is too different, too complex and too onerous for anyone outside the organization to begin to understand. This belief is the likely foundation of peculiar cultural values.

Until quite recently, police services were very definitely apart from society. Although they are sworn to serve and protect society, this sworn duty was most often performed in the manner decided upon behind closed doors by the police services themselves.

With the advent of Community Policing, Community Policing Advisory Committees, Community Satisfaction Surveys and other similar Law Enforcement efforts, any mystique that may have existed is being stripped away. Police officers are being seen more and more as human beings with all the human frailties everyone else in the community may possess. In short, the public is now more willing to believe that their police officers are capable of committing not only acts if misconduct, but also criminal acts.

There is no shortage of Internet sites that exist to report on police misconduct. In one particularly poignant example, it is alleged that an off-duty police officer had had a physical altercation with a member of the public in a bar. The account of the fight included the civilian suffering convulsions, being attacked with a pool cue and having one of his eyes dangling on his cheek as a result of the beating. As it turned out, there was an altercation but it in no way resembled the account offered on the Internet. The altercation could in no way be described as a beating and the civilian did not suffer convulsions and did not have an injury to his eye even remotely resembling that described.

Anyone reading the original account would have been left with the disturbing impression that the police officer had been involved in a vicious, prolonged beating of an innocent civilian. Given the millions of people who regularly surf the Internet, there is a very real likelihood that there are many people who may have read the account and believed it.

The result of this new pressure on the police is that the public may be more prone to believing that the police are capable of heinous acts. When one considers the impact and frequency of the Ro

The Cultural Evolution

Activities and behaviours within a particular organizational culture sometimes indicate values and standards that differ widely from those outside that culture. This is not peculiar to police or the military. Almost every single organization in every conceivable sector has it own, individual culture.

Organizations that tend to have their own ‘language’; their own specific identity; their own atypical rules; are more susceptible to developing a culture that is some distance from the culture of mainstream society. The members of the organization often believe that their world is too different, too complex and too onerous for anyone outside the organization to begin to understand. This belief is the likely foundation of peculiar cultural values.

Until quite recently, police services were very definitely apart from society. Although they are sworn to serve and protect society, this sworn duty was most often performed in the manner decided upon behind closed doors by the police services themselves.

With the advent of Community Policing, Community Policing Advisory Committees, Community Satisfaction Surveys and other similar Law Enforcement efforts, any mystique that may have existed is being stripped away. Police officers are being seen more and more as human beings with all the human frailties everyone else in the community may possess. In short, the public is now more willing to believe that their police officers are capable of committing not only acts if misconduct, but also criminal acts.

There is no shortage of Internet sites that exist to report on police misconduct. In one particularly poignant example, it is alleged that an off-duty police officer had had a physical altercation with a member of the public in a bar. The account of the fight included the civilian suffering convulsions, being attacked with a pool cue and having one of his eyes dangling on his cheek as a result of the beating. As it turned out, there was an altercation but it in no way resembled the account offered on the Internet. The altercation could in no way be described as a beating and the civilian did not suffer convulsions and did not have an injury to his eye even remotely resembling that described.

Anyone reading the original account would have been left with the disturbing impression that the police officer had been involved in a vicious, prolonged beating of an innocent civilian. Given the millions of people who regularly surf the Internet, there is a very real likelihood that there are many people who may have read the account and believed it.

The result of this new pressure on the police is that the public may be more prone to believing that the police are capable of heinous acts. When one considers the impact and frequency of the Ro

There is no shortage of Internet sites that exist to report on police misconduct. In one particularly poignant example, it is alleged that an off-duty police officer had had a physical altercation with a member of the public in a bar. The account of the fight included the civilian suffering convulsions, being attacked with a pool cue and having one of his eyes dangling on his cheek as a result of the beating. As it turned out, there was an altercation but it in no way resembled the account offered on the Internet. The altercation could in no way be described as a beating and the civilian did not suffer convulsions and did not have an injury to his eye even remotely resembling that described.

Anyone reading the original account would have been left with the disturbing impression that the police officer had been involved in a vicious, prolonged beating of an innocent civilian. Given the millions of people who regularly surf the Internet, there is a very real likelihood that there are many people who may have read the account and believed it.

The result of this new pressure on the police is that the public may be more prone to believing that the police are capable of heinous acts. When one considers the impact and frequency of the Rodney King video that played and replayed on television sets across North America, it should not be surprising that the public has changed it opinion of the probability of the police involving themselves in criminal acts. Disturbing photographs of military behaviour in Somalia have brough similar pressure on our armed forces.

These realities raise the bar in terms of the public’s expectations of police officers and members of the military. If the public is now more prone to believing it is probable, or at the very least possible that police or military personnel can be involved in these types of loathsome behaviours, it is incumbent upon police and military leaders to create and/or maintain ethical, highly principled organizations that are open to significant scrutiny by the pubic. Transparency has become vitally important.

When the behaviours move too far along the acceptable-unacceptable continuum, the organization may begin to experience considerable toxicity.

In looking at some particularly heinous examples of this phenomena, this evolution to can more appropriately be described as devolution. Every time an unacceptable behaviour is permitted, ignored or condoned, it becomes the new standard for a second, slightly more unacceptable behaviour. This second behaviour sets a standard for a third, and so on…

In the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, incidents of serious assaults, robberies and even murders occurred; allegedly at the hands of sworn police officers. These unbelievable acts were the direct result of the devolution of the culture having been allowed to grow totally out of control. The illegal acts in Rampart are, thankfully, atypical of the vast majority of police departments in North America. They remain, nonetheless, examples of what can and does occur if the cultural devolution is not monitored and corrected. They are examples of what can occur if the leadership is inattentive; not listening to the heartbeat of their organization; not in touch; not listening to the cries for help from their various constituents.

The Code of Silence and The Thin Blue Line

There is a fervent belief, by some, that the police are all a part of the last bastion between good and evil. There is a view held by some that they must stand shoulder to shoulder regardless of the situation; that all are members of the ‘Thin Blue Line’. This mindset can frequently foster other, more serious problems within a police organization.

One of the first questions that must be asked is not simply whether or not there is a ‘Code of Silence’ prevalent within the unit or organization; for the answer to that is simple – Yes there is.

The breadth and depth of the ‘Code of Silence’ are the more important dimensions to define. The answers to these questions are frequently the bellwethers of problematic beliefs or values within the culture of that organization.

The Code of Silence drops like a curtain whenever it appears that one or more members of the organization may have crossed that vaporous line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

Time after time, when an internal affairs department or an outside agency begins to investigate allegations of wrongdoing within a particular police organization, memories become vague, vision becomes blurred and details become illusive.

Within the culture, there is an unwritten rule that officers do not inform on one another. This is, in part because of the belief that they must protect one another and also that only another cop understands what they go through on a daily basis; that many of these investigations are the result of individuals not knowing the harsh realities of policing; that they must stick together.

Cops dislike dirty cops. This is a strongly held belief inside and outside police organizations. The line between somewhat soiled and dirty is very difficult to define, however. Unfortunately, some wrongdoings are condoned, or at least ignored, while others are not. The two lists vary considerably, depending on who is composing the lists. The difficulty, of course, is the subjectivity and occasional self-interest that sometimes seeps into such assessments.

Once the ‘Code of Silence’ question has been investigated, there are other, more particular questions that the administrator must pose:

? What behaviours have become acceptable within the culture that would not be acceptable outside it? ? How prevalent are these behaviours? ? Are these behaviours a ‘right of passage’ into a particular unit? ? Are these behaviours an indication of the ‘Three Musketeers’ mentality? ? Are these behaviours being condoned or simply ignored?

The answers to these questions will provide some self-evident guidance to police leaders as to the depth and breadth of the issue within their organization.

Noble Cause Corruption

Often times, the noble ideals that motivate men and women to enlist in a police service are the very same qualities that motivate them to behave inappropriately. These men and women do not act as they do out of some evil intent. They do so with the noblest intent. Tragically, these situations often have terribly unhappy consequences.

We in Canada have had numerous examples of this reality; especially since DNA technology has arisen as a tool in the detection of crime. As we now can see, there have been numerous examples of wrongful convictions, based upon the investigations by hard-working, tireless, honest, dedicated police officers.

One need only look at Donald Marshall, David Milgaard or Guy Paul Morin to see how tragedy h