Responsibility of Future Law Enforcement Officers: Results of Expert Interviews
Responsibility of Future Law Enforcement Officers: Results of Expert Interviews

Summary/Abstract: The work of law enforcement officers and their role in today’s society is in the great interest. It is extremely important to make sure the high level of the responsibility of these professionals. The education of an individual's responsibility begins long before he or she chooses his or her profession. The following main factors of general education can be distinguished: family, school and self education. The role of higher education institution is also extremely important in order to prepare a future law enforcement officer who would be well aware of the roles of his or her activities, be able to perform them professionally, would have mastered inner social responsibility and external legal liability. The aim of the article is to investigate the responsibility of the Law study programme students – future law enforcement officers. In order to achieve this goal, the analysis of the scientific literature of the responsibility of law enforcement officers was performed, as well as the insights of experts on the legal liability and social responsibility of future law enforcement officers were explored empirically using the in-depth interviews. According to the results of scientific literature analysis, the general interview questions were formulated in order to get the in-depth insights of the experts about the responsibility of Law study programme students – future law enforcement officers. The 5 experts teaching at one of the Lithuanian higher education institution in the Law study programme were selected for the in-depth interviews matching at least one of the following criteria: 1) lecturers with a scientific degree and at least 10 years of administrative – managerial and scientific – pedagogical work experience; 2) lecturers with at least 15 years of practical work and scientific-pedagogical work experience. It was found that the main educational factors developing future professionals’ legal liability and social responsibility are family, school, church, state institutions, educational institutions. The legal liability and social responsibility of students, future law enforcement officers, in higher education institution is developed through the study process, study subjects, social welfare, mutual statutory relationship and events. A legally liable student is a member of society who complies with the laws, obligations, whose behaviour and expectations do not violate the principle of unity of rights and duties. A socially responsible student is a member of the society who clearly understands the expectations of the society for the activities of a law enforcement officer and is ready to satisfy them with his or her work. Students who are characterized by legal liability are also characterized by social responsibility, as legal liability is not possible without social responsibility. Students who are characterized by social responsibility also have legal liability, because first of all, an individual develops social responsibility and from it a legal liability develops.

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