Ethics in Law Enforcement
"Sometimes [police officers] may, and sometimes may not, lie when conducting custodial interrogations. Investigative and interrogatory lying are each justified on utilitarian crime control grounds. Police are never supposed to lie as witnesses in the courtroom, although they may lie for utilitarian reasons similar to those permitting deception & #8230;" (Skolnick, et al., 1992)
Is it ethical for law enforcement officers to use deception during the interrogation process? It appears that when officers are attempting to extract a confession from a suspect, deception is, in many cases, commonly applied strategy. Does a code of ethics conflict with the way in which law enforcement conducts its interviews and interrogations? What do the courts say about deceptive interrogation tactics? These issues will be reviewed in this paper.
Deception in the Interrogation Room
Is it ethical to lie to obtain the truth? No. Do the ends justify the means? No. Regardless of the justification -- such as those found in the literature and reported in this narrative -- it is unethical to deceive suspects with phony evidence or assertions that are patently untrue. That said, law professor Richard A. Leo, who specializes in researching police tactics during interrogations and interviews, points out that most appellate courts allow law enforcement to be deceptive in their interrogations "…so long as their misrepresentations have not deceived suspects about their Miranda rights" (Leo, 2009, p. 190). Appellate courts also tolerate deception during the interrogation providing the police refrain from using "threats or promises," Leo explains (190). Most American courts allow deceptive interrogation for two reasons: a) deceptive interrogation is "…not apt to lead an innocent suspect to confess"; and b) it "does not render a confession involuntary" (Leo, 190).
There are exceptions regarding what is acceptable to the courts; confronting a suspect with a "fabricated written documentation" (such as a false scientific report on stationery from the law enforcement offices) is off-limits; and promising mental health treatment in return for a confession is also unacceptable in a court of law (Leo, 190). That said, Leo reports that courts "have displayed deep ambivalence toward...
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