The ethical theory I will rely on for my scenario is formalism. Considering that this is a public servant and that the main goal of formalism is to carry out obligation and duty, formalism is the theory that will apply. Adhering to this theory means you treat everyone, regardless of status or relationship, the same. It would also mean that you could not use one person as a means to an end (Albanese, 2012). Therefore, doing a favor for the mayor for personal gain, such as a promotion, is clearly not alright. Separating personal morals from ethics is important for a police officer. Personal morals are how an individual decides what is right and wrong based on their own beliefs. Ethics are based on universal ground rules for handling situations. In other words, a police officer must treat everyone the same and follow the ethical guidelines regardless of their personal feelings. It …show more content…
Playing favorites for one person while holding other responsible for theirs is not an ethical upholding of my oath to be a police officer. Allowing persons of an upper level of citizenship special treatment would cause a lot of discord among all residents where I patrol. This may cause citizens to feel unsafe and rebel in ways that would make life unpleasant. As a police officer my ethical responsibility does take precedence over my personal views. I do not make the laws but I must carry them out as they are presented. It is not my place to make changes. If there is a conflict between my ethical responsibility and personal views, I will move forward with the ethical responsibility as I have promised to do. If I were not able to do this, I would not be a police officer. My personal views are in line with my ethical responsibilities which makes this very easy for me. If at any time I find that I am struggling with this, I would find another
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
This may be difficult due to corruption within the criminal justice system. When police officers and administrator successfully operate within the law, the public feels safer. This is important to police systems, administration, and practices because in order to enforce the law, you must first abide by it. The deontological ethical systems relate to legality when it comes to police corruption and upholding the law. According to the deontological ethical systems, the nature of one’s action must be morally right, adhering to the rules of their position. Referring back to the ethical dilemma in the introduction, as a police officer you have a duty and moral obligation to following police procedure and protocol. Although pulling the Chief of Police over is a good act and is for the greater good of the people, it would still have bad consequences. “When the consequences of a decision are bad, the teleological or consequentialist ethical system does not support it” (Miller,
Ethics are the principles that shape individual lives in modern society. It is a subjective idea that seems to have a standard in society. Ethics and morals are the major factors that guide individuals to make right and wrong choices. Something that is morally right to one person might be the very opposite of what another person would view as right. There are many factors that can trigger a change in an individual’s view of morality.
As stated in the textbook, police often have to make decisions on their own, with only their moral compass to guide them. Most ethical dilemmas that police officers face derive from their powers of discretion. Moral dilemmas that police officers face are often frequent and unavoidable. They are often unpopular with many people, resolved quickly, and are often dealt with alone.
Police officers often encounter situations where the decision to use discretion challenges the way and the type of job that officers would normally conduct. Each day an officer is on the job, discretion when it comes to job duties appears, sometimes without any warning. Officers constantly struggle with the appearance of discretion, and often times do not know how to handle the situation when it does appear. Discretion may take many different forms in the job duties, but it always involves the officer letting a crime “slide,” rather than questioning every suspicious person. Letting a crime “slide,” for certain offenders, is of great concern for the administrators of police departments, because there is potential for ethical issues to surface later on. This essay will examine police discretion, factors that influence discretion, whether exercising discretion is appropriate, and the concerns that administrators have when it comes to police using discretion in the field.
Decision some officers make compromise their loyalty, to the community they swore to protect. It is a stressful situation when deciding to be loyal to the job or to fellow officers. “Many departments have officers swear an oath to serve and protect without allowing personal feelings, prejudices, animosities, or friendships influence their actions”, however, the code exists (Lawrence, 2015). Not the code of ethics or the code of honor, but the “cop code”, which bonds unethical officers to a code of silence to protect each other.
This research proposal seeks to establish the level of police discretion used on duty. It aims to understand when it is appropriate for police to use discretion as well as given reasons for abusing their decisions. It focuses on issues with police discretion maintaining the responsibility to be ethical such as racial profiling, socioeconomic status and excessive force. Although police discretion can have positive factors, it also difficult to determine whether it is fair for police to make a decision during situations.
Police ethics are extremely important because ethics are the typical of “fair and honest conduct” (pg 460). People may have a different definition of what is fair and what is honest, and there are different circumstances where officers may not be able to be honest; such as covert investigations. Society in general determines what our ethical standards and moral principles are. Individual morals vary among all of us as they are what we as an individual consider to be right or wrong. We also have morals that are set by society. These are what we as a society consider to be right or wrong and may go hand in hand with individual morals. Morals change as society and people change, therefore we as a country have to adapt to what the changing morals are.
While on the job, police must put all their personal opinions aside. They must provide everyone with an equal and fair chance. It is important in a democratic society for police to not know too much about the community they are policing. It allows them to ...
A Critical Assessment In defining police ethics, ethical policing and police ethics are not synonymous or interchangeable connotations to or for one another. Aside from establishing a police role independently from establishing any definition of ethics or police ethics, the semantics tend to complicate the defining process. Some of these complications include, but are not limited to, sociological aspects, psychological conditions, or philosophical reasoning. Examples of sociological complications include historical, political, cultural, or economic aspects. Some psychological examples include one’s ability to discern sociological implications from other implications; namely, the condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, hydrophobia, or even weary dreams. Lastly,
By law, it is illegitimate for a public officer to receive any kind of consideration from friends, workers, and third parties under clear circumstances that gift is motivated by the recipient's official position. “A gift is benefit, favor, services, tickets to an entertainment or sporting event, or other items of monetary value”. (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014) However, the Mayor of the city’s action was more of self- interest than for the benefit of the people whom he serves. The purpose and basic needs for greater good of the people was not what the Mayor served and by this action small businesses may not afford giving him valuable items to secure contracts by the city.
Ethics play a huge role in a police officers line of work. Since police are given such a high degree of trust and authority, it can unfortunately be very easy for an officer to fall into some unethical behavior. This can range from just minor acts that are frowned upon, to actual downright illegal activity. Even though there are a countless number of acts and behaviors that can be considered unethical, in the following paper I will focus primarily on those incidents involving police officers who steal for their own personal gain, and discuss my position on the issue.
I assume the question is using the term personal ethics to mean one’s conscience and the term professional ethics to mean adherence to a professional code. Sometimes those two roles can conflict. For instance, we have cases of doctors who have refused to prescribe the morning after pill, because they believe it will terminate a human life. In this case the doctor has decided that his personal ethics will guide him or her. Alternatively, a police officer may enforce a law that they personally believe is unjust. In this case the police officer has decided to put aside personal concerns and allow professional obligations to guide his or her behavior. Likewise a judge may follow the law and impose the death penalty even though he or she may be personally opposed to it.
Police decisions can affect life, liberty, and property, and as guardians of the interests of the public, police must maintain high standards of integrity. Police discretion concerning how to act in a given situation can often lead to ethical misconduct (Banks 29).
Ethics is a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is acceptable for both individuals and society. It is a philosophy that covers a whole range of things that have an importance in everyday situations. Ethics are vital in everyones lives, it includes human values, and how to have a good life, our rights and responsibilities, moral decisions what is right and wrong, good and bad. Moral principles affect how people make decisions and lead their lives (BBC, 2013). There are many different beliefs about were ethics come from. These consist of; God and Religion, human conscience, the example of good human beings and a huge desire for the best for people in each unique situation, and political power (BBC, 2013).