Police Ethics MCQs (Policing Essentials)
Police Ethics MCQs (Policing Essentials)
Welcome to MCQss.com's collection of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) on police ethics. This page is designed to help you assess your knowledge and comprehension of ethical considerations, professional conduct, and decision-making within law enforcement.
Police ethics are fundamental to maintaining integrity, trust, and accountability within law enforcement agencies. Police officers are expected to adhere to a code of ethics that guides their behavior, decision-making, and interactions with the community. Understanding and applying ethical principles is essential for upholding justice, promoting public safety, and preserving public trust.
MCQss.com's collection of MCQs on police ethics covers a wide range of topics, including ethical theories, codes of conduct, professional responsibilities, use of force, discretion, corruption, and community relations. These interactive MCQs provide an opportunity to test your knowledge and understanding of ethical issues commonly faced by police officers.
By engaging with these MCQs, you can evaluate your understanding of ethical principles, explore real-life scenarios, and enhance your decision-making skills within the context of law enforcement. The questions will challenge you to consider the ethical implications of various situations and apply your knowledge to make informed choices.
Whether you are a law enforcement professional, a student studying criminal justice, or someone interested in the ethical dimensions of policing, MCQss.com offers a valuable resource for self-assessment and learning. These MCQs can help you identify areas for improvement, deepen your understanding of police ethics, and foster ethical decision-making within the law enforcement profession.
Explore the MCQs on police ethics, test your knowledge, and enhance your understanding of this critical aspect of law enforcement.
1: One or a few police officers that are involved in acts of wrongdoing refers to _____
A. Bad apples
B. Bad eggs
C. Bad fruits
D. None of these
2: An unwritten rule embedded within the police subculture which protects the interests of police officers who violate criminal law is known as _____
A. Blue Wall
B. Blue Wall of Silence
C. Blue Curtain
D. All of these
3: A procedure for providing input into the complaint process by individuals who are sworn officers is known as Citizen Oversight.
A. True
B. False
4: The presence of clearly ______policies and rules within a police agency.
A. Understood
B. Implemented
C. Evaluated
D. Both a and b
5: Ethics are the rules of conduct recognized in respect to _____
A. A class of human actions
B. A group
C. Culture
D. Any of these
6: Requires that prosecutors share with criminal _____ any information concerning the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses, including police officers.
A. Defendants
B. Attorneys
C. Offenders
D. Both a and b
7: Includes acts that are committed by police officers during work that result in _____ is known as Police Corruption.
A. Personal gain
B. Gain for others
C. Both
D. None
8: Crimes committed by sworn law enforcement officers who are given the general powers of arrest at the time the offense is committed is known as _____
A. Police Crime
B. Police Corruption
C. Police Deviance
D. None of these
9: When police officers are involved in activities or behaviors that are inconsistent with accepted _____ associated with the policing profession it is known as Police Deviance.
A. Norms
B. Values
C. Ethics
D. All of these
10: Includes acts committed by police officers that violate department policies and procedures is known as _____
A. Police Crime
B. Police Deviance
C. Police Misconduct
D. None of these
11: When some police officers begin their careers as “good cops” but end up becoming “bad cops” or rotten apples it is known as _____
A. Rotten Barrels
B. Rotten Branches
C. Rotten Orchard
D. None of these
12: Subunits within police organizations (such as specialized units—gang-suppression units, vice squads, etc.) that are involved in corrupt activities refers to _____
A. Rotten Barrels
B. Rotten Orchards
C. Rotten Pockets
D. Rotten Branches
13: Rotten Orchard become the context for widespread and institutionalized rule-bending and illegality. The system includes the _____
A. Police organization
B. Criminal justice system
C. Broader sociopolitical context
D. All of these
14: Groups of police officers working together who are involved in acts of deviance refers to _____
A. Rotten Branches
B. Rotten Orchard
C. Rotten barrels
D. Rotten Pockets
15: Testilying is a slang term used for police officers giving false testimony against defendants in criminal trials.
A. True
B. False
16: Values are the _____ that are important to people, groups, or professions. Values should influence decisionmaking and form the basis for the understanding of ethics.
A. Ideas
B. Behaviors
C. Actions
D. All of these
17: During what decade did policing begin to narrow their functions to focus on crime control?
A. 1920s
B. 1930s
C. 1940s
D. 1960s
18: An officer who sees their role as akin to that of ambulance operators and firefighters is a(n) ______.
A. Crime fighter
B. Emergency operator
C. Social enforcer
D. Social peacekeeper
19: Jerome Skolnick (1966) noted the inherent tension between enforcing the law and respecting rights. He suggested that the best solution to this dilemma was for police to give priority to their ______.
A. Duty to uphold the law
B. Duty to protect the public
C. Reputation with the public
D. Obligation to fight crime
20: Immorality, violence, lying, teamwork, secrecy, loyalty, and being treated with respect are all elements of what commentators refer to as ______.
A. Police attitudes
B. Unfair characterizations of the police
C. Institutional culture
D. Elements of all professions
21: In an ethnographic study of police culture in the north of England, Loftus (2010) found that ______.
A. Police officers still perceived themselves as crime fighters
B. Police officers still perceived themselves as community policers
C. Police work remained relatively unchanged compared to America
D. Police officers received more ethics training than officers in the south of England
22: Which of the following is not one of the issues that commentators agree have shaped ethics in policing over the years?
A. Styles of policing
B. The media
C. The police as an institution
D. Police culture
23: The most widely adopted police code of ethics is that formulated by the ______.
A. F.B.I
B. International Association of Chiefs of Police
C. Police Executive Research Forum
D. U.S. Department of Justice
24: A report by Kiker (2015) found that Maryland deployed a SWAT team an average of four and a half times every day in 2014 and more than ______% of those were for the purpose of executing a search warrant.
A. 38
B. 62
C. 77
D. 93
25: Which of the following factors may lead to corruption from the institutional viewpoint?
A. Low public visibility and secrecy
B. Police personality and rotten apple
C. Corruption of authority and internal payoffs
D. None of these
26: Noble cause corruption involves ______.
A. Using illegal or unethical means to achieve ends that are themselves considered moral
B. Police officers with an exaggerated sense of self-worth
C. Personal or financial gain for officers
D. Officers pretending they were trying to do their job honestly
27: Which of the following competence-related police behaviors are considered to contribute to police corruption?
A. Performing police duties out of one’s own self-interest
B. Failing to take advantage of relevant, ongoing training opportunities
C. Lacking the skills, aptitude, or confidence to make lawful arrests
D. All of these
28: When looking to combat corruption, which aspect of policing is achieved through accountability, internal and external, and through use of tools?
A. Reducing opportunities for corruption
B. Detecting and deterring corruption
C. Reinforcing motivation to act normally
D. Recruiting
29: In which of the following countries has the media impacted the number of public inquiries made and generated demand for effective police accountability?
A. Argentina
B. Canada
C. Australia
D. Russia
30: “Driving While Black” is when ______.
A. Black men are on the road at exorbitant numbers
B. Police stop a disproportionate number of minority citizens
C. Police arrest a disproportionate number of minority citizens
D. None of the above
31: What does the “stop and frisk” law, based on Terry v. Ohio (1968), allow police to do?
A. Stop and search a person exhibiting unusual conduct
B. Stop and search a person they believe to be “dangerous”
C. Conduct a limited search of that person to check for weapons that could be used against an officer
D. All of the above
32: In New York City in 2011, police use of the “stop and frisk” law was at its highest. What percentage of these stops were innocent, resulting in no arrest or court summons?
A. Between 24 to 30%
B. About 42%
C. Between 71 to 75%
D. Between 86 to 90%
33: Extensive police use of “stop and frisk” has been shown to decrease violent crime rates.
A. True
B. False
34: Most police departments require officers to complete a minimum of eight hours of ethics training each year.
A. True
B. False
35: The systemic explanation for police corruption focuses on the weaknesses of individual officers.
A. True
B. False
36: The rotten apple theory of police corruption blames individual officers or small groups of officers for the police corruption problem.
A. True
B. False
37: According to Zimring 2017 study, media databases from The Guardian and The Washington Post found about ______ of the number of police lethal force deaths than stated in official aggregated reports.
A. One fifth
B. One third
C. One half
D. One fourth
38: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in March 2015, almost ______% of deaths which occurred in the process of police arrest arose from causes other than officer-involved homicides of suspects.
A. 20
B. 40
C. 50
D. 66
39: According to Skolnick and Fyfe (1993), when police use a stronger tone and tell the person with whom they are interacting what behavior they expect, this is known as ______.
A. Presence
B. Persuasive verbalization
C. Command verbalization
D. Firm grips
40: According to Skolnick and Fyfe (1993), contacts that include holds like finger grips and hammerlocks are known as falling under which of the following level on the typical linear continuum of force policy?
A. Pain compliance
B. Impact techniques
C. Deadly force
D. Command verbalization
41: Which of the following was not found by the Police Foundation survey of police officers in 2001?
A. A substantial majority believed using more force than permitted by law was sometimes acceptable.
B. Most officers disapproved of using excessive force.
C. More than 4 out of 10 officers said always following the rules was not compatible with doing police work.
D. A substantial minority believed they should be permitted to use more force than the law allowed.
42: Which of the following components do not fit the makeup of procedural justice?
A. Dialogue that discourages citizen participation before a decision is made by an officer
B. Neutrality in decision-making demonstrated by conducting a dialogue with citizens
C. Demonstrated respect or citizens throughout the interaction
D. Trustworthiness, evidenced by adherence to other components
43: In order to avoid liability in excessive force claims, police officers must establish that their actions were ______.
A. Necessary
B. Preferable than other available actions
C. Subjectively reasonable
D. Objectively reasonable
44: In which U.S. Supreme Court case did the Court hold that municipalities are liable civilly for failure to train officers when that failure to train amounts to deliberate indifference to rights of those with whom they come in contact?
A. Tennessee v. Garner
B. Graham v. O’Connor
C. Scott v. Harris
D. Canton v. Harris
45: Which theoretical approach to the cause of police use of excessive force focuses on the systems in place in police agencies for managing officers?
A. Psychological
B. Sociological
C. Organizational
D. Geographical
46: According to Kleinig (1996), police lethal force is not limited to use of firearms. Each year police ______ kill and injure more people than firearms, including innocent citizens.
A. Tasers
B. Chokeholds
C. Motor vehicle pursuits
D. Stun guns
47: Stinson et al. (2012) found that in cases they examined, there was ______ situational risk to the officer concerned.
A. Large
B. Large to moderate
C. Moderate to little
D. Little to no
48: The criminalization hypothesis contends that was a factor in the increase of mentally ill persons entering the criminal justice system?
A. The increase in crime rate
B. Deinstitutionalization
C. Reduction in number of civil commitments
D. An increase in community programs
49: Kleinig (2014) suggests that ______ is an example of police use of excessive force.
A. Overtightening of handcuffs
B. Handcuffs positioned behind the back
C. Taser use
D. Multiple person jail cell occupancy
50: Kleinig (1996) points out that what type of deception is said to be directed at securing worthy ends?
A. Investigative
B. Interrogatory
C. Testimonial
D. Informational
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Police Ethics MCQs (Policing Essentials)
