Ethics-and-Code-of-Conduct
Assignment 1 and McDonnell v. US
Assignment 1 plus McDonnell v. US 579 U.S. ____ (2016)
Assignment 1: Ethics and Code of Conduct
1.) Review the materials on plagiarism and proper citation form.
2.) Read the Assignment Carefully. Make a copy and use it as a check list to make sure you have covered all the points.
3.) Find a Code of Conduct for a police organization within Pennsylvania state. It can be state or local. If you cannot find any, try going to the International Association for Chiefs of Police which is an accrediting institution for police departments. However, the assignment calls for a Code from your state, so look very hard to locate one.
4.) Do some research on the topic of ethics and codes of conduct for police in acceptable sites like Police Chief Magazine, International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Department of Justice, COPS and POPS. Go to EBSCO HOST and look for a peer reviewed article on the topic of ethics in policing. The Rubric gives top points for extra references. The rubric calls for 2, so try for 3, or even 4 if you have doubts about the acceptability of a source. (Sources should be within 5 years)
NOW you can start to write:
1.) The page numbers are a MINIMUM not a MAXIMUM
2.) Set up a cover page template for the course that has “Running head: TITLE†on the left hand margin and the page number on the rights hand margin. You can find an example in the OWL (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/) Look at the Sample paper.
3.) For the first question, state your future career in law enforcement. It may be police, corrections, probation or something else. Then pick three reasons why ethics and integrity will be important to your future. State them up front. Then give a detailed description of why each one is important, and offer an example. This should be one to two paragraphs long for each reason.
4.) For number 2, review pages 3-5 of the text. Pick two aspects in which ethics and/or morality are different from the law. For each one explain the difference then explain how each one will affect your decision making as a police officer. You have to cover both parts for each of the two aspects. How is the law different from ethics and morality, These are three different concepts.
5.) Look at the Code of Conduct you identified in your research. Pick two aspects that you think are the most important. QUOTE the section you are using, putting in quotation marks or a block quote and providing a citation. Then explain a) why it is important, and b) how it relates to law enforcement in your state. You can use a credible news source for an example of police violating the code, or exemplifying it (saving a life for instance)
6.) Create your Reference Page using the sources you have found. Remember that any source in your reference should also be located in your text with an in text citation and vice versa. Look at the example in the OWL for how to do it. Remember DO NOT USE a URL with nothing else in either the in-text citation or the Reference page. You want an author, date and publication source. If there is no author for a corporate or organization site, you can use the site name as the author. Use a hanging indent and double space.
If you need help on how to do research using EBSCO HOST, review the Kaltura Video in the Media Center
7.) Proof read your paper. Do a spell check and a grammar check. Look at anything that has a red underline, or blue underline. If you are having problems go to the Tutoring Center, or a local campus if one is nearby. Many students have found Grammerly useful.
8.) If you use Grammerly, do not turn in your paper with all of the Grammerly corrections. Make the corrections in a clean copy then turn that in.
Common Mistakes that students make on this Assignment
1. Do not read the Assignment questions and answer them specifically.
a. Give short two line answers when a paragraph is needed. You have to explain your reasoning for the position you are taking.
b. Do not use examples, or use examples without explaining what they are illustrating.
2. Do not follow APA format on the cover page and reference page.
3. Use a URL alone for an in text citation or reference. I cannot determine the nature and quality of a reference from a URL.
4. Do not provide the required number of references.
5. Do not proof read for obvious spelling and grammar mistakes. It only takes 8 errors to put you in the “unacceptable†range.
McDonnell v. US
The US Supreme Court has been narrowing the interpretation of various federal Bribery and “Theft of Honest Services” statutes. the statutes are broadly and it has been argued, very vague, thereby ensnaring honest conduct. The overturning of one of the counts of Enron executive, Jeff Skillings tightened up on theft of Honest services, and the 2016 case involving Virginia governor McDonnell v. US further tightened up on the interpretation of “bribery”. In some respects these cases are in response to over zealous actions of federal prosecutors. In the case of Ted Stephens, federal prosecutors hid evidence. http://www.npr.org/2012/03/15/148687717/report-pro…
