|
|
|
| NEWS > 26 November 2006 |
Other related articles:
South Africa: Dutch Police to
Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula on Wednesday signed an agreement with his Dutch counterpart establishing a framework for bilateral police cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement signed with Guusje ter Horst, the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, commits the two countries to improving the quality of policing generally.
The pact focuses on promoting bilateral cooperation in the fields of law enforcement, crime prevention, public order and public safety.
On the question of non-operational coope... Read more
|
 Article sourced from
|
|
Edmonton Journal (subscription
26 November 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
|
|
Police to tackle ethical pract
EDMONTON - For the first time, Edmonton police officers are taking a page from doctors, lawyers and business students -- and will examine ethics issues.
The service struck a standing committee this fall to discuss ethics outside of training or internal disciplinary decisions.
"Our mandate is to look at the policies of the Edmonton Police Service to ensure they are progressive," said Supt. Norm Lipinski.
"If and when the chief or the chief's committee has an ethical dilemma and needs somebody to research the matter, we're there."
The new standing ethics committee was Lipinski's brainchild earlier this year, when incoming police chief Mike Boyd asked members of the service for their ideas as he put together his 100-day plan.
No specific incident made the committee necessary, Lipinski said. Instead, the members will look at overall best practices for Edmonton police.
City Coun. Janice Melnychuk, who sits on the police commission but was not aware of the ethics committee, would not comment on whether incidents over the last two years make a standing committee necessary.
"I think every profession has issues about ethics," she said. "I think it is appropriate and important that every organization and profession looks at themselves and builds into their training and programs the issue of ethics."
But retired officer and policing expert Chris Braiden questioned whether the new committee speaks to a specific need.
"If the Edmonton Police Service has set up an ethics committee, they must have some reason to believe some aspect of policing is being done unethically," he said.
Lipinski said the team -- comprised of nine Edmonton police officers, a business ethicist and a health-care lawyer -- met twice this fall, but is still hammering out its mandate. Members will get to the nitty-gritty of policy debate at a meeting later this month.
The first priority, he said, will be to look at what other police agencies in Canada and the United States are doing for ethics training and setting policies.
The Calgary Police Service has an ethics committee, while Toronto has an ethics and equity officer who reports directly to the chief of police.
In Quebec, two autonomous bodies oversee police ethics across the province. One of the bodies is civilian, and handles the public's complaints. The other is an administrative tribunal.
University of Alberta philosophy professor Cressida Heyes, who specializes in ethics and gender studies, said the committee will give police the chance to scrutinize themselves without fear of punishment.
"With that structure, I'm not sure what it would be but an opportunity for internal conversation," she said.
"A lot of police forces have come quite late to the fact they have to be accountable in this way."
Melnychuk applauded the initiative.
"I think a committee like this will probably ask themselves, 'Are there things we aren't doing that we should be doing, and are there things that we could be doing better related to the culture of the police service?' " she said.
She pointed to professional training as an area to be focused on. "They should be making sure we're doing the most we can, the best we can for training members."
|
| |
 EiP Comments:
|
|---|
|
| |
* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications |
|
| |
|
