Does The Indian Police Need An Ethical Framework

The reputation of the Indian police leadership suffered a setback in 2003. The pictures that this generation of police officers will remember are the arrest of the Mumbai Police Commissioner in the Telgi scam, the handcuffing of a CBI DIG on corruption charges and the search for an Inspector General of Police on murder charges. Earlier, senior police officers have been arrested for their involvement in the recruitment racket and demanding bribes for transfers. Senior officials have also been accused of other omissions and omissions, such as being intentionally inactive (or biased) during riots, fake encounters, and being involved in or ignoring the torture or murder of suspects.

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Question Of Morality

Is morality a relevant issue in contemporary society? After all, this is ‘Kaliyuga’, when ends are more important than means. If many of today’s rulers do not follow the path of ‘Rajdharma’, then how can police officers be expected to work in the framework of morality? The Generals are captured on camera, selling their reputation for the Blue Label. Many giants of industry and commerce believe that as long as there is profit, anything goes. Today the black economy is estimated to reach lakhs of crores of rupees. The expansion of vigilance mechanisms in the public sector has had little impact on the scale and spread of corruption at all levels. Today’s social icons boldly declare that ‘one who is not corrupt either lacks opportunity or dares’ This article is not about corruption. Instead, it asks whether ethics is needed in policing, explores some specific issues that create ethical dilemmas in policing, and finally proposes to focus on ethics right from the training level.

Classical Moral Concepts

Classical morality in the West extends from Plato’s concept of ‘absolute goodness’ to Aristotle’s belief that good works or good persons can only be evaluated in a particular context. Socrates’ approach was in the midst of these extremes. He believed that happiness, wealth, power or prestige as the goal of human life does not result in living a good life for the soul. Therefore, the key to human happiness is the development of a rational moral character. Indian philosophies reflect similar deviations. Ramayana represents faith in ‘absolute goodness’, with Shri Ram as the ideal of moral conduct. Right conduct is a continuum at one end of which is the incarnation of ‘virtue’ or ‘dharma’ (Shri Ram) and at the other is ‘atrocity’ or demonic conduct (Ravana). The Mahabharata represents a more pragmatic approach to morality in an imperfect world. It acknowledges a degree of flexibility in moral standards to overcome evil. Other philosophies such as Buddhism emphasize correct conduct as ‘Nirvana’ or the path to salvation.

The Need For Ethics In Policing

The profession of policing is as essential to the functioning of society as professions such as healthcare or education. This is why the police have been given the monopoly to deprive a person of his liberty by exercising the authority of the State, to use force against the State’s own citizens when necessary, or to violate his privacy. Often working away from the supervision of superiors, the Courts or other public authorities, the discretionary power of even those at the lowest level in the police is in fact excessive. This vast discretionary power and old dilemma, such as “who will protect the guards”, make imperative the need for a framework of values and professional ethics to guide the police in their dealings with citizens.

Ethical Challenges In Policing

Let us now consider the situations when a police leader may face a moral dilemma. No attempt will be made to give the ‘correct’ answer, it is left to the reader.

1) Obedience versus professional competence: Consider a situation when a police chief is ordered by his official superior to obey an order that he believes could cause a disaster. Should the police chief obey, if professional superiors persist after being briefed on the possible consequences? What if the police chief is aware of certain factors not known to the superior, from which the real purpose of the order can only be achieved by disobedience? How can the benefits of disobedience to the operational order based on professional competence be weighed against the disintegration of hierarchy and discipline?

2) Conflict between obedience and political instruction: In the event of a conflict between professional competence and political instruction, the situation is more straightforward. Unlike in the case of the professional superior, the political superior cannot anticipate high professional competence in operational matters. However, is it appropriate for the police chief to oppose the political directive against the operational directive, which he knows will lead to castrophy and has presented his views? Since political leadership in a democracy represents the will of the people, how can their political intelligence be challenged in the accepted framework of governance?

3) Clash between obedience and lawfulness, and obedience and basic morality: What should a police officer do when he receives an order that his political or administrative superior does not have the legal right to issue? If the officer believes that he is acting illegally, it is clearly appropriate to disobey the police officer. After all, he is a servant of the state only if he is a legitimate authority. If the chief claims to have acted legally, but the officer finds that act illegal, what happens? When there is an opportunity to refer the matter to legal experts, the police officer can certainly take their opinion. When this is not possible, is the police officer justified in taking decisions based on his discretion?

What happens if there is a conflict between obedience and basic morality? How can the police officer renounce his right to make moral decisions, even if the political officer cites raison detat (because of the state)? The most difficult option facing a police officer is to listen to his conscience or justify his actions on the basis of the well-being of the State or his professional duty.

4) Conflict between means and ends: Police officers often face the dilemma of whether to use wrong means to achieve good objectives. In the interest of protecting the society – ‘Sarvajan Hitaya’, is it appropriate to fabricate evidence to implicate known terrorists or drug dealers? Is it permissible to record false statements or make false statements (false testimony) by taking oath in court in order to bring known offenders to conviction? The most extreme cases occur when violent criminals such as dreaded terrorists and dacoits are killed because it is difficult to gather evidence to convict them. Adhering to the strict technical conditions of the law can free a terrorist or criminal to kill again or make society his victim. However, supporting illegal actions is a violation of the same laws that the police have sworn to follow. Should the police go beyond their role as enforcers of the laws of the state, to become ‘judges, juries and executioners’ to protect society when the legal system is deemed inadequate to do so?

5) Torture of terrorists: One puzzle that best sums it up is the ‘ticking bomb dilemma’: a captured terrorist knows the location of a ticking time bomb that threatens the lives of hundreds of innocent people. The only way to stop this mass murder is to torture the terrorist and tell him the location of the bomb. There is no time to consider; An immediate decision will have to be taken. Does the good purpose of saving innocent lives justify the wrongful methods of torture? Can the application of the third degree ever be rationally justified by the principle of ‘necessity knows no law’?

A Professional Ethics

Corruption is not discussed because it is not an ethical dilemma like the issues above. Any police officer who reaps economic benefits in return for official favours is clearly doing so for his own self-interest and not for the ‘broader interest’. The ethical issues described above are the real dilemmas that police officers face every day when they decide whether an action will achieve the goals of their profession, such as protecting the general public from criminals or maintaining social order. What makes such decisions difficult is that there is no clear professional code of conduct to guide the police officer. It is easy to become a moral opportunist and use unethical conduct as a means of career advancement. Many people who follow this path are morally weak-willed or self-deceivers who argue that they were merely ‘following orders’ or that such actions are part of the ‘police culture’. Honesty requires a leader to have a consistent and stable set of core principles important to achieving the goals of the organization. The Hippocratic Oath of the Medical Profession says: Primum non nocere – “Above all, do not intentionally harm”

This is the basic rule of the ethics of public responsibility. No professional, whether a doctor or a lawyer, can assure treatment or acquittal. He can just try honestly and to the best of his ability.

The physician’s skill is diagnosis and treatment; his responsibility is the health of his patients. The skill of the police leader is the management of the rights conferred by the State; his responsibility is to respond to crime and disorder for his client, that is, society. Its conduct towards society is guided by the awareness that the rights conferred by the State can be exercised only for purposes approved by the State through a complex framework of law, rule and tradition. It cannot impose on the State decisions that have an effect beyond this jurisdiction. However, he also assumes the role of expert adviser to the State through the State’s political leadership to explain to him what is needed to fulfil his responsibilities, how to meet these needs and, once the State’s political representative has made a decision, to help implement these decisions.

Responsibility Of Police Leadership

The police leadership has a special responsibility for developing such a code of conduct. As a member of a leadership group, police officers, especially IPS, enjoy considerable prestige and authority. Therefore, there is also a mutual responsibility to regulate decisions within the framework of professional ethics. The methods of exercising the authority of the State are closely linked to the cultural form of any society. Therefore, modern policing skills do not only require knowledge of law, but are also associated with history, politics, economics, sociology and psychology. It also shares borders with scientific fields such as chemistry, physics and biology, and with advances in modern technology. A police leader cannot develop the necessary analytical insight and judgement capacity when trained only in the technical enforcement of the law. His constant dealings with humans require him to have a deep understanding of human attitudes, motivations, and behavior. Such qualifications can only be acquired through learning outside their profession. These intellectual skills and a sense of professional responsibility are the very qualities that distinguish the higher police leadership from the ordinary and subordinate ranks. If there were no such difference, there could be a single hierarchy, from the most junior constable to the highest rank. This is why education and training for senior police services are prepared differently from other levels.

Can Morality Be Taught?

Some IIMs (IIMs-Cs) have a separate course on business or corporate ethics. LBS is a center for ethics in governance at the National Academy of Administration. Effective education of ethics can provide guidelines on how to evaluate ethical issues. In Plato’s Republic, the wearer of Gyges’ ring becomes invisible. When he discovers that he can use it without being caught, the shepherd’s Giges murders the king of Lydia and then rapes the queen. Plato uses this fable to present two contrasting views on moral conduct. First, no one in a shepherd’s position would be fooled by not taking full advantage of the power of the ring, as it grants the wearer the ability to do wrong, free from punishment. Anyone holding such a ring will have no rational reason to do good. Therefore, justice is simply a system of exercising control over the natural tendency of people to satisfy their own desires, even if wrongdoing is involved. The opposite view is that people act morally because they know and believe in morality, not out of fear of being caught. The important issue is whether a person’s honesty provides a ‘moral compass’ that differentiates right from wrong. If this is to be believed, only sociopaths are immoral because they cannot differentiate between good and bad.

Modern research recognizes that moral conduct is part of a person’s personality, but positive moral conduct can be learned and strengthened by factors such as peer pressure. It is true, however, that the effective time for teaching moral conduct is in the early years and that those who show a lack of morality in childhood often have problems with honesty as adults. Although people’s behavior may change, and fear of harsh punishment or peer condemnation has sometimes prevented habitual behavior, effective change usually occurs when the individual has a clear goal and motivation for change.

Accurate personality tests are yet to be developed that can help recruit people with a predisposition to moral conduct or reject people with sociopath traits. If we adopt the 80:20 rule, we can expect that about 20 percent of people will already be prepared for unethical conduct. Another 20 percent may be morally and mentally lazy and not bother to think deeply about moral issues. The remaining 60 per cent are likely to benefit from training efforts. Once they have a moral code, accepted as the basis for their professional conduct and become aware of the ways that help to distinguish between moral and immoral, most people will work towards upholding the highest possible moral standards.

The impact of ethics training in educational institutions such as IIMs or LBSNAAs has not yet been usefully assessed. In any case, training cannot establish in individuals a moral code that motivates leaders to do the right thing. It can only introduce the concepts of psychophysics and emphasize critical thinking skills, reasoning abilities, and problem-solving techniques with the right mix of theoretical and practical subject matter. Despite these shortcomings, it is important that key training institutions of the police, such as the SVP National Police Academy, take the lead in initiating informed discussions on ethical issues in policing right from the basic curriculum, perhaps in collaboration with institutions such as IIM-C or LBSNAA. It may also approach a state like Maharashtra or a central police organization like CBI to finance a bench to study ethics in policing. Will such academic exercises make police leaders more ethical? Maybe, or maybe not. This will develop a common sense of collective professional responsibility in the IPS which is essential to their role and responsibility as the highest leadership level of the Indian Police. What could be a more important training outcome than this?

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