Law Enforcement Culture Organizational Cultures Within Law

Law Enforcement Culture

Organizational Cultures within Law Enforcement

Are there organizational cultures within law enforcement that can prove positive and/or negative to an agency? Provide examples that support your thoughts

Today's society is incredibly diverse and this level of diversity also requires that law enforcement organizations incorporate diversity into their organization as well to handle these challenges. By incorporating diversity into the law enforcement organization, it is possible to improve race relations, public attitudes towards police, police professionalism as well as minimize the potential for racial profiling. However, there are many law enforcement organizations that have a great deal of racism within their organizational cultures.

This can definitely affect the law enforcement agency in a variety of negative ways. Even if the policing organization is just perceived as racist then they are likely to receive a different treatment from the public than would be optimal. Joseph McNamara observes that "Learning about the cultures of the communities police serve is not enough. Police departments also have cultures that need to be learned about -- and sometimes changed. (U.S. Department of State)"

Another cultural position that can affect any law enforcement agency is integrity and ethical behavior. Agencies that uphold a strong dedication to ethics will definitely be granted more cooperation from the public. However the contrary is also true. When an organization is viewed as unethical, then they are not likely to receive a lot of trust with anyone they interact with. One problem is that ethics is a difficult concept. It is wrong to take bribes from drug dealers or terrorists, but is it also wrong to take a free meal from a restaurant owner who wants you to be a frequent guest (U.S. Department of State).