Police Misconduct Case Study

This paper addresses ethical and moral dilemmas, played out in a scenario in which Officer Johnny Jones, newly assigned to an undercover narcotics unit is paired up with veteran Officer Tony Denardo. Officer Denardo quickly impresses upon Officer Jones, his feelings about the narcotics unit and the police agency on a whole. The veteran officer leaves such a strong impression on the “rookie”, he (Officer Jones) soon starts displaying similar characteristics and boisterous attitudes. Officer Jones acclimatizes to the job very quickly, making significant arrests, getting Confidential Informants (CI) of his own and becomes well liked among most of the fellow undercover officers. However, Officer Jones’ home life, and marriage suffers dramatically. Jones begins to drink excessively, neglects his …show more content…
With substantial ability to record and video the actions of officers during the course of their duties, iPhone and android devices are readily available to catch officer’s mishaps by the all too willing disgruntled citizen. For these very reasons, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies, not only strive to eliminate officer misconduct, but put programs and policies in place to deter future deviance (Rosembaum, 2001).
Meet Officer Jones Police officers are afforded an extensive amount of power, and a significant amount of discretion in order to adequately perform their assigned duties. This is particularly true in specialized units like undercover vice squads, special operation units, and narcotics tasks forces. (Lamboo, 2010). In the fictional scenario, Officer Johnny Jones and Officer Tony Denardo serves as a prime examples of how easily the misuse or abuse of the entrusted powers can impact an individual’s career, attitude, and personal