Police Ethics and Civil Liability Case

This document presents a case study focusing on police ethics and civil liability, framed as a memo from a police chief to subordinates. It emphasizes the importance of police officers paying for their meals to contribute to the GDP and maintain public trust, arguing that accepting free meals is unethical and detrimental to the department's reputation. The memo also addresses the issue of civil liability, noting that citizens have the right to sue the police department, which can erode public confidence. The document suggests strategies to reduce civil liability, such as ensuring the department is helpful, establishing clear rules, and implementing a monitoring system. The memo concludes by referencing several academic articles on police integrity, attitudes, and stressors in South Korea.

Memo 1
Memo
To: All subordinates
From: Police Chief
Date: 20.12.2016
As the responsible people of the country and as per our job responsibility, we should always pay
for the meal that we have during our duty or when we are off duty. This will make us contribute
to the GDP of our country and we will be able to fulfill our responsibility as the citizens of this
country (Kang, 2015). Accepting a free meal is not ethical as a police officer because it makes a
negative impression in the minds of citizens that we are a corrupt and they lose trust in us. When
free meal is accepted, it is a loss to the owner of the restaurant, loss to the GDP and loss of the
respect that in the eyes of public. The job that we do earns us respect and because of this, we
tend to lose it.
All professions in the country should be treated with equal honor and respect; I don’t feel that
police officers should be held to a “higher standard” than people in other professions. Police
officers are responsible for the safety and well-being of the citizens of the country and they must
do it with dignity and honesty (McCluskey, 2015). They should not expect any special treatment
in return for that.
But, generally people sue a police department because they felt and experienced that police did
not help them for their issues, they misbehaved with them, and demanded bribe (Yun, 2013).
Anyone can sue the police in the state as well as the federal court because the citizens have the
right to do that. But when the police department is sued, the public loses confidence in the

Memo 2
department, they tend to see them as criminals and they state talking ill about the police (Yun,
2015).
The civil liability can be reduced by ensuring people that the police department will help them in
resolving their issues, by making rules and regulations for the department and by establishing a
monitoring system for the department.

Memo 3
References:
Kang, W., & Ivković, S. K. (2015). Police Integrity in South Korea. In Measuring Police
Integrity Across the World (pp. 241-267). Springer New York.
McCluskey, J. D., Moon, B., & Lee, S. (2015). Korean police officer attitudes toward the use of
force. Asian Journal of Criminology, 10(1), 7-22.
Yun, I., Kim, S. G., Jung, S., & Borhanian, S. (2013). A study on police stressors, coping
strategies, and somatization symptoms among South Korean frontline police officers. Policing:
An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 36(4), 787-802.
Yun, I., Hwang, E., & Lynch, J. (2015). Police stressors, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover
intention among South Korean police officers. Asian Journal of Criminology, 10(1), 23-41.