The ethical dilemma in this case focuses on a patrol officer’s decision on whether or not to pull over an influential member of society, the mayor. Several nights before, the mayor runs a red light causing the patrol officer to pull him over and issue a ticket. The next morning tension arises as the officer gets in trouble for issuing such a powerful person a mere traffic violation. Then later in the week, the same car is swerving all over the road. Should the policeman pull over someone he knows is very connected within the system? Using the ethical systems, I, as the officer in question, can make an informed decision as to how to handle this particular dilemma.
Using the Virtue ethics, which is an ethical system that examines the virtuous
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(Pollock, J. 2014. P.33). Reviewing this case using the Deontological system can help to examine the duty of the officer. The driver’s duty is to be aware and alert at all times on the road, but if they are not fulfilling those duties than they are not following this ethical system. Also, the officer’s duty is to protect and serve, which is a specific duty assigned when they pledged an oath. Pledging this oath to protect and serve is a moral duty, because it is a moral obligation to uphold this oath that they pledged. Duties of position are obligations one has to a certain job or career, but moral duties are obligations that relate to right or wrong not legally bound. In this situation, the officer is experiencing both duties of position and moral duties. If we completely forget that the driver is someone of importance, than the officer would have no problem ticketing the irresponsible party. A way to assess actions in Deontology is the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative in Deontology is a way to evaluate moral actions and then formulate moral judgments. So with a clear impartial mind-set, the Deontological system supports the punishment of ticketing the guilty party. The last ethical system that can be used to inspect the case is Utilitarianism
At times in a person’s life, they might come across a few situations that leave them with a major decision between two or more options that challenge what they believe or what they might think is wrong or right. These are known as ethical dilemmas. Be it seeing a friend steal something and choosing between being honest and speaking up or letting it go. It can also be getting paid more than you earned and deciding if you’re going to be greedy and keep the money or return it. We run into these situations in our lives, some bigger and more influential on our destiny’s while others are small with no real consequences.
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,
Deontological moral theory is a Non-Consequentialist moral theory. While consequentialists believe the ends always justify the means, deontologists assert that the rightness of an action is not simply dependent on maximizing the good, if that action goes against what is considered moral. It is the inherent nature of the act alone that determines its ethical standing. For example, imagine a situation where there are four critical condition patients in a hospital who each need a different organ in order to survive. Then, a healthy man comes to the doctor’s office for a routine check-up. According to consequentialism, not deontology, the doctor should and must sacrifice that one man in order to save for others. Thus, maximizing the good. However, deontological thought contests this way of thinking by contending that it is immoral to kill the innocent despite the fact one would be maximizing the good. Deontologists create concrete distinctions between what is moral right and wrong and use their morals as a guide when making choices. Deontologists generate restrictions against maximizing the good when it interferes with moral standards. Also, since deontologists place a high value on the individual, in some instances it is permissible not to maximize the good when it is detrimental to yourself. For example, one does not need to impoverish oneself to the point of worthlessness simply to satisfy one’s moral obligations. Deontology can be looked at as a generally flexible moral theory that allows for self-interpretation but like all others theories studied thus far, there are arguments one can make against its reasoning.
The Virtue, Utilitarianism, and Deontological concepts all have something in a common. Each one of these three concepts concentrates on an individual’s actions leading to various options, in addition to how the options affected others. The variations within each of these concepts are who engaged and was impacted by those options. The Virtue concept concentrates on an individual's character. One could stay in their lifestyle by seeking quality in everything they and others do (Boylan, 2009). The Utilitarianism concept considers that an activity, which is created to the advantage of a team, is fairly appropriate, if it delivers the biggest advantage to that team (Boylan, 2009). Utilitarianism is frequently known through the motto, “The biggest excellent for the biggest variety (Boylan, 2009).” between the three theories, Deontology is the most different. This concept moves around ones choice to control. Deontologists create options depending on understanding that something is right without concern to the higher excellent of others (Boylan, 2009).
When somebody sees how moral difficulties are illustrated it gets to be conceivable to well-spoken methodologies to dispense with. The moral bursts of conduct performed by those inside of general society security areas. Cures of moral conduct with respect to cops start first with the choice and employing of experienced people. Police office ought to no more effectively discover "work-round" of least enlisting norms to select an individual from an uncommon hobby. Lawyer General Eric Holder as of late demonstrated as to Dayton, Ohio Police Department. "No organization ought to until the end of time be found in the position that the Los Angeles Police Department discovered itself when they had volunteers working the boulevards and their personal
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.
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.
In law enforcement, discretion is left up to each police officer to make responsible and reasonable decisions on situations while in the field. A police officer will have no choice but to use discretion in certain situations and make decisions on what type of force or punishment is necessary for the situations. Many people in the society always believe that police officers can make any decision they wish to at any time while working. This is very wrong because there are situations whereby a police officer or even the chief of police has no other choice, but to follow the law in making decisions. The role of the police administrator is double challenging because, he/she must determine how best to use discretion as well as encourage or dissuade discretion by subordinate members ...
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,
Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), an American patriot and politician, once stated, "Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason"[1]. This statement is significant, as it undermines two of the primary ethical doctrines in philosophy - the deontological perspective defended by Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) in Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (634), and utilitarianism, supported by John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) in his essay, Utilitarianism (667). Deontology and utilitarianism are contrasting theories. The former focuses on the intrinsic moral worth of our actions, whereas the latter argues that the consequences of our actions determine their moral value. Nevertheless, both perspectives substantiate Mill's claim that "our moral faculty.is a branch of our reason, not of our sensitive faculty" (678). Reason is an indispensable aspect of Kant's deontological view, as he believes the will is a capacity unique to rational beings. In Kant's opinion, the will is essential, as it facilitates our ability to act according to the universalizable maxims we establish for ourselves (653). Reason is also a crucial element of utilitarianism, as it is the intellectual faculty that enables us to distinguish the course of action with the best possible outcome (i.e., the choice that will ensure the greatest happiness or least amount of pain for as many people as possible) (688). However, since both deontology and utilitarianism are governed by the notion that moral judgements are established through reason, can either theory apply in circumstances in which rational thought is not feasible? For example, during World War II, a Nazi soldier offers a ...
Police discretionary practices vary from officer to officer and every officer is differently trained by departments. Without the proper use of discretion out on the field, police officers are left open for legal suit actions however, if the officers are trained and exercising the use of discretion in a good manner, each individual officer can be held accountable. The second disadvantage of use of police discretion is that it allows the police officers to have too much power on making decisions which can affect the life, safety or liberty of an individual (Bargen, 2005). Police discretion presents a clear danger to society because the average officer can make a poor decision and affect the life of a person or persons. If discretion in law enforcement is used in a wrongful manner, it has great potential for being abused out of the field. Discretion allows police officers to “perform a duty or refrain from taking action” (Gaines & Kappeler, 2003, p. 251). Police officers are supposed to enforce equality under the law, people in society all should have equal rights and should be treated the same. However, discretion allows police officers to misuse it by treating offenders of different genders, race, class, ethnicity, religion, age and more inappropriately (Pepinsky, 1984). Law enforcement officers are
Ethical decisions are involved with policing as officers often find themselves faced with ethical decisions when offered gratuities. Because of the risk officers take on a daily basis, it may seem ethical for them to accept gratuities offered. For example, officers may be offered free cups of coffee by store owners because the store owner is appreciates the officers service or he may want a ticket he receiv...
Deontology refers to the judgment of the morality of an action based on the action’s adherence to a rule or rules. The first philosopher to define deontological principles was Immanuel Kant, who had founded critical philosophy. Kant held that nothing is good without the actual intent being good, and if one acts in accordance with the law, rather than what he thinks. He saw moral law as an unconditioned command and believed it should be established by human reason alone. Even now, with accordance to the law, people are bound to do things within the law, and following the law is considered ethical.
This is also the same reason why the article is important. It gives the citizens a good look into what the correct behavior for an ethical police officer is. This article is very similar to the article Written by the United States Department of Justice, except their article only gives a short definition of police ethics, and offers a more detailed explanation of why these codes are important and how they can be used to improve the tarnished relationships between communities and their
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).