Cultural Change
Cultural change is an ongoing process which involves gradual evolution from awareness to debate, to action, and finally to spread acknowledgement that informs and changes behavior. The best reflection of cultural change is in the conduct of people. Cultural change is particularly needed in regards to the use-of-force. In the past, Victoria Police was known for its slogan of “getting the job done” regardless of human rights violated along the way (Howie et al, 2011). The ends-oriented policing mentality has encouraged practices like perjury, “verballing”, coaxing of evidence or fabricating of confessions, and leaving out potentially exculpatory evidence. Noble cause corruption was found to be a cultural relic of outdated policing methods that Victoria police officers employed.
Over the years, however, there has been cultural change around human right as well as the Charter across the entire organization. The Victoria’ Charter was formed to inspire cultural change as opposed to simply achieving reform through application of individual interventions (Porter & Prenzler, 2012). At present, it is no longer acceptable for Victoria police officers to apprehend individuals without proper cause, to force them into confessions, or to compromise the due course of law in their pursuit to convict a suspect. There has remarkable cultural change at the organization because compliance to the Charter Human Rights and Responsibilities has been integrated into the planning process (Porter & Prenzler, 2012). At the end of every operation, a debrief is conducted where there is review of risks identified at first are reviewed, before operation, as well as review off compliance with laid down mitigation strategies identified and executed in the operation. In this regard, the organization now perceives human rights as an element of its core business evidenced by its effort to embed human rights in both governance and organizational learning (Howie et al, 2011). This has resulted in a human rights-based approach to be considered business as usual. This has been made possible by the growing understanding within Victoria Police that protection of human rights is consistent with good policing, both theoretically and practically. The implementation of the human rights-base approach has promoted a culture of transparency and receptiveness among Victoria police officers toward complaints about and investigations of potential police misconduct (Howie et al, 2011). For instance, there is now greater emphasis on the victims’ rights because the Victoria Police has developed standards for ensuring quality in relation to victims’ rights. Similarly, Victoria police officers have come to understand that they have many other alternatives to use of force. These include verbal commands, use of non-weapon based physical force, and use of less lethal or non-lethal weapons. Therefore, the greatest advantage of having human rights in the Victoria Police state has been the gradual acknowledgement across the organization that policing is indeed a fundamental human rights work (Howie et al, 2011).
Going forth, in terms of the human rights in policing, it is very challenging to wholly implement cultural change together with respect for human rights. Success depends on the police to embrace human rights along with the changes that come with them. As such, it is possible for Victoria police to attain significant direct and indirect professional and personal success by accepting and implementing a human rights framework to the jurisdictions (Porter & Prenzler, 2012). In the long run, this will graduate into the operating culture of Victoria Police which encourages continuous improvement as well as achievement of sustainable change.
References:
Howie, E., Brown, A., & Lynch, P. (2011). Upholding Our Rights: Towards Best Practice in Police Use of Force. Retrieved from: http://www.hrlc.org.au/files/HRLC-Police-Use-of-Force-Final-Background-Research-Paper-2-September-2011.pdf.
Porter, L., & Prenzler, T. (2012). Police Integrity Management in Australia: Global Lessons for Combating Police Misconduct. United States: CRC Press.
