Ethical Dilemma Of A Police Officer

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This essay is examining an ethical dilemma I may encounter as a Police Officer. The New Zealand Police (n.d.) have stated that the police officer’s main roles are to seek to prevent crime, advance public safety, find offenders, and uphold law and order. Due to the role of maintaining law and order, a Police Officer should not be rebelling against the law. This relates to the ethical dilemma I am researching; Whether or not a Police Officer should report illegal activity by friends or family. In this assignment, I will be analyzing both of the arguments this dilemma holds; what happens if I report the illegal activity, and what will happen if I do not report the illegal activity? in relation to virtue ethics.

By having ethics, an individual …show more content…

Eudaimonism holds an idea that any action is considered positive, as an individual’s aim of the action is to create a positive outcome (SEOP, 2012). For example, if an individual decides to quit smoking, they are creating a positive outcome as it will benefit their bodily health. The ethics of care can be defined as a theory that focuses on the interdependence of people (The ethics of international engagement & service-learning [EIESL], 2011). The term ethics of care can refer to the morality of making ethical decisions (Britannica, n.d.). The ethics of care relates to virtue ethics as caring is one of the many virtues that the theory values (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d.). As the ethics of care relates to equity between male and female, it means a Police officer should not discriminate against gender as it is not ethically correct. Agent based and focused theories hold are divided in two. The agent focused theory believe that virtuous people have good personal morals opposed to the agent based theory which evaluates the causes of the ethical judgements an individual will make (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, …show more content…

Class A includes methamphetamine, magic mushrooms, cocaine, heroin and LSD (New Zealand Police, n.d.). Along with imprisonment from possession, an individual may also receive life imprisonment from supplying or manufacturing Class A drugs (New Zealand Police, n.d.). By reporting this offender, the police officer will have to deal with the guilt of ‘betraying’ a friend. Due to the drinking culture of New Zealand, it is very common for minors to drink alcohol at parties etc. If a police officer has a teenage child, they will be very likely to encounter their child very drunk, which is illegal when the child has no consent from the parent or legal guardian. If the police officer reports their child’s misconduct, the child will be punished by being given a fine (New Zealand Police, n.d.). These offences are illegal, and it is a Police Officers duty to report any illegal activity, which means the Police officer could get terminated of its duty if they fail to report any offense. If the police officer wants to report a crime, but does not want the offender to know they reported them, they can report via crimestoppers.com, as it is completely

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