What are your views on the idea of an unwritten code of conduct governing the behavior of police and corrections officers?

While we all know that the unwritten code of conduct is alive and well in almost all public service jobs, it is much more important to decide where you stand when we have the power to impact someone’s live as a law enforcement officer. Are we to rat out every little thing we see someone do against an SOP to our superiors? As Wayne Duff stated in his presentation “if we do we will have a miserable career.” It is hard to say that we will never turn a blind eye to certain behaviors, but I think more important is do we rat them out every time we see it done. I happen to believe that there are times when you have no choice but to push items up the chain. I also feel there are times when we can have a talk with our partners and influence them by just having a frank discussion. I have said to my partners on many occasions over 28 years, “don’t put me in a position to have to do something I don’t want to do.” This allows you to stand your ground and puts the responsibility for doing the right thing back on the other party.

You are a police officer and you witness your partner of 6 years strike a criminal suspect who has been arrested and is secured in handcuffs. The actions of your partner are in violation of your department’s Use of Force policy. Your partner has already received punitive sanctions in the past for unwarranted use of force, and this incident may jeopardize his career. What would you do?