Hawai I Police Department Policy Analysis

A standard of conduct required by the Hawai’i Police Department is officers are forbidden from accepting gifts, gratuities, or anything of value either directly or indirectly based on an officer’s position with the police department (Kubojiri, 2016). I do not fully disagree with this policy, however I believe exceptions should be allowed. As the chief of police, I enact the policies for my department. Some of my thought-process is based on previous experiences. For example, in the U.S. Coast Guard, gifts and gratuities were allowed as long as the dollar value was less than twenty dollars ($20) and was not in the form of cash. Also, if the nature of accepting the gift or gratuity implied in any way that any form of favorable treatment was expected in return, than that would be a violation of the policy. A good example of this is a small boat station had a basket of cookies hand delivered by some local residents to show their appreciation for the Coast Guards recent life saving mission, rescuing a capsized boat crew. Can you imagine how the local citizens would have reacted if the cookies were not accepted because of this policy? In this scenario, the Coast Guard and citizens are able to build a relationship and form a bond by accepting the cookies. …show more content…
When companies allow these minute gratuities and are doing so because their organizations respect and appreciate the local law enforcement in the community, I find that it has a positive effect and creates better relationships between police and citizens. Officers are more likely to visit these businesses interacting with employees and customers, which in turn fosters community