The power a public servant holds has an enormous effect on an average citizen. The reason we have public servants such as a police officer is because we cannot be sure that the average citizen will follow the rules set by the government. To decide whether public servants should be held to a higher standard, in an ideal world no, they should not, they should be held to same standards. However, since they are required to use lethal force in certain situations they, therefore, carry a higher sense of responsibility. These responsibilities include risking their own lives to save others. These actions are what we know as duties, which are “required behaviors or actions, that is the responsibilities that are attached to a specific role” (page 11). I also believe that this required behaviors and responsibilities should be held when the individual is off duty as well. If a certain action, such as smoking marijuana is illegal for all citizens then it should be illegal for public servants who are off duty as well.
Ultimately, public servants are supposed to be an example, a role model of what a good citizen should be. Fortunately, most of our public servants do an excellent job towards that. However, just like everyone else they at times get carried away, and as long as it does not harm others, they should be held at a higher standard because of all the hard work they do.
As mentioned in the textbook “Ethical Dilemmas & Decisions in Criminal Justice” by Joycelyn M. Pollock, “acts that can be judged as ethical, unethical, moral, or immoral involved 4 elements” (Page 14). One of which are acts that affect others, meaning in order to decide if an action is moral or immoral is when the behavior has an impact on others. Saving others, following the law and practicing the law and being an example of what is morally good is what most of our public servants do and therefore they should be held at higher standards.
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As we all know, perfect does not exists and there are always the bad in every good. Just like there are citizens who break the law in, there are officers who abuse their privileges. The difference is that if public servants betray that bond and the trust that they vowed to keep, then they broke more than just the law. Even though I believe that public servants should be held at a higher standard, I also realize that the power and rights given to them are the once regular citizens are denied. Therefore, we expect higher standards in return as well.
References
- Ethical Guidance for Police Officers:Public Servants in the Real World” by Gennaro F. Vito and Ronald M. Holmes
- Ethical Standards: A Comparative Analysis of Codes of Ethics in Law Enforcement Agencies by the U.S. Government Accountability Office
- In Internal Affairs Section We Trust: Trust, Legitimacy, and Compliance in a Community Policing Era, Cornell Law Review
- U.S. Department of Justice – Standards and Guidelines for Internal Affairs: Recommendations from a Community of Practice
