Students
Acquainting Yourself with Ethics
You are on patrol and stop a vehicle for expired registration. You approach the driver and notice it is an old friend from school. You give a verbal warning to her and tell her she is free to go. Before leaving, she says it was great to see you again. She asks if you want to get coffee some time and hands you her phone number.
Does professionalism play a role here?
Yes. Professionalism plays a role when there is discretion involved.
Does it matter that the traffic stop was over and the warning already given?
No. Even though the warning was issued already, you, as an officer, are still acting under the office of your badge and therefore should maintain professionalism.
What should you do with the number?
The most appropriate thing to do would be to hand the number back to her and say maybe they can discuss the issue further when you are off-duty.
Occupational Subcultures and Normative Ethics
You are a rookie officer fresh out of the academy. You are currently in your third phase of your field training program and absolutely love the career choice you made. Your first two field training officers (FTOs) were great and you learned a lot from them. Your current one, however, seems different. He is a more seasoned officer than the first two (a veteran of 18 years) and he appears to be burned out.
Your respond to your next call together and meet with the reporting party. He explains that while walking with his kids he found a bike near a creek that he thinks may have been stolen. He takes you to the location of the bike. There you find a bike in very bad condition that has obviously been there for some time. You are unable to find any serial numbers and know the proper procedure is to place the bike in evidence as "found property." You load the bike in the trunk of your patrol car and begin to drive to the police department. On the way there your FTO tells you to pull over into a parking lot. He has you pull next to a Dumpster and tells you to throw the bike in it because there is "no reason to take up space with this piece of junk no one will ever claim." He says, "I'll show you what we really do around here with calls like these." You have reservations, but you also don't want to say no to your FTO.
Evaluate the case from the occupational subculture perspective.
Answers should discuss the underground network often described as the "locker room philosophy" or the agency's "unspoken values."
Is the concept of moral judgment involved here?
Yes. Answers should discuss the totality of circumstances facing criminal justice professionals when making moral decisions.
How does the teleological theory apply here?
Answers should discuss the consequences and moral worth of an action.
Police Discretion and Ethics of Social Justice
You're conducting radar on a very busy street that has generated several complaints of speeding vehicles from the community. Because of these complaints, your sergeant has asked for a "no tolerance" style of enforcement. You observe a vehicle traveling 59 miles per hour (mph) in a posted 40-mph zone, so you initiate a traffic stop. You approach the driver and notice that he is the owner of a local restaurant that always provides food for the police department local holiday party. The driver is very friendly during the interaction and says, "You're not going to write me a ticket, are you? I always support you guys."
Does the officer have the right to use discretion in this case?
Yes. However, there can be both good and bad consequences to discretionary behavior.
How does the "golden mean" come into play here?
The officer is being forced to choose. The "golden mean" is Aristotle's concept of balance. It requires people to choose between the two extremes of inadequacy and excessiveness.
Does justice play a role?
Yes. Justice is Rawls's idea of the equal distribution of goods and services among individuals and groups in society.
Professionalism and Ethics
You are a patrol officer who splits a zone with another officer. The other officer is very well respected inside the agency and the community. He has received several accommodations and was recently named officer of the year. You respond to a call with him and, as you are leaving the scene, you observe him wreck his patrol car into a mailbox. There is very little damage done to the patrol car. You don't say anything at the time, assuming the officer will follow proper protocols. Later, however, you learn that the officer said that the damage was on the car when he began his shift and even noted such damage as such on his vehicle inspection form.
Where does this officer's action fall on Table 5.1 of the text, the chart showing professionalism of agencies?
This action would be considered corrupt.
How does this apply to the truth of professionalism?
Answers should discuss the concept of "looking good versus being good."
One must be endowed with two moral virtues to achieve "being good." What are they?
The two moral virtues are integrated thinking and moral agility.
Racial Prejudice and Discrimination
You are riding double on patrol in a very high-crime area. While sitting at a stop sign, you observe a car approaching you. The car is low-riding, has very expensive wheels, and is occupied by three black males. Your partner, who is driving, says "well, there is some probable cause" and initiates a traffic stop. You question what violation the other officer saw. The officer replies, " come on, man, you can just tell they are up to no good."
Which category of inequality is this?
Unjustifiable. Unjustifiable inequality is unequal treatment that is knowingly practiced by institutions or individuals. It can harm innocent victims (for example, the violation of civil rights of workers).
Is this an example of stereotyping?
Yes. The officer is automatically treating a person as part of a group without any facts.
Is this an example of discrimination?
Yes, because the officer is drawing a distinction. It is negative when one draws an "unfair or injurious distinction" (for example, questioning a person's ability because she is a member of a minority group that one disfavors). It is this latter expression that constitutes discrimination—the making of distinctions in a way that violates widely accepted social values.
Egoism and Abuse of Authority
You are an off-duty officer shopping for a new hunting rifle. As you speak with the salesman, you mention that you are a police officer. The salesman informs you that you can get the rifle 50% off if it is going to be used at work. You know that it will not be used at work, only for hunting, but you could really use the 50% off. You generate a required letter on official city letterhead, indicating that the rifle will be used at work, and you receive the 50% off.
Does egoism play a role here?
Egoism likely plays a role. You as the officer seem to feel justified due to your administrative position. Excessive egoism is inconsistent with proper moral judgment, because it violates the principle of equality by placing one's concern for self at a higher plane than one's concern for others. Excessive egoism leads to irresponsibility, which in turn allows for abuses of authority.
Is this an example of abuse of authority?
Yes, and in some states, this would be considered a criminal act.
Is there a time that egoism in public service can be justified?
According to the text, egoism in public service can be justified only when it is altruistic—motivated by benevolence and regulated by conscience.
Loyalty in the Workplace
You are a patrol officer working a day shift. You walk into the property evidence room and see one of your work partners tagging some evidence. You see that the evidence appears to be from a call you both responded to the day before. The officer sees you and says "man, I completely forgot I had this other evidence in my patrol bag and forgot to drop it off yesterday." You notice that the evidence tag has a date and time that does not reflect this.
In what way does professional accountability play a role?
You as an officer have an obligation to comply with the agency rules and regulations.
How does this scenario relate to workplace loyalty?
You as an officer have conflicting levels of loyalty to your organization's rules and regulations and to your fellow officer.
Should integrated loyalty outweigh other workplace loyalties in this scenario?
Yes. Integrated loyalty is the highest and most virtuous level of workplace loyalties. It is idealistic in nature and constitutes the practitioners' obligation to uphold, above any other value, constitutional and legal principles, the ideals of public service, and the interest of any third party that might be involved either locally or globally. This level of loyalty transcends all others by honoring reason, justice, goodness, duty, and goodwill. It represents the workers' commitment to mankind, public service, impartiality, and transcendence, and is the cornerstone of all professional and moral loyalties.
Social Order in a Parole Setting
You are a new parolee officer assigned to your first position. You are somewhat concerned about the way your first parolee hearings are going. It seems to you that the hearings are just a "dog and pony" show and that predetermined decisions have already been reached.
Are there social order concerns present here?
Yes, social order pertains to man's concern as an individual for a secure and stable life within an orderly community. As such, attention is focused on the social norms and legal sanctions that ensure public safety, economic well-being, and the freedom to pursue happiness, among other contractual relations. The fate of the parolee relates to all these concerns.
Does it seem as if an ideal model is represented here?
No. An ideal model is not represented by the "dog and pony show" you witness because the ideal model represents a vision of law and justice by which hardworking practitioners diligently handle each case on its merits.
What, if any, occupational subculture concerns are there?
It appears that a culture has been in place for some time and it will be difficult for a new employee to modify behaviors.
Power and Trust in a Policing Setting
You are dispatched to deal with a suspicious person near a downtown building. You arrive in the area and locate a man fitting the description that you were given. When you approach the man, you notice that he is very nervous about your presence and has an overall negative attitude toward police. You assume that he has had negative interactions with law enforcement in the past.
Does lack of trust play a role here?
Yes, the person is most likely experiencing at least one of the four types of fear: (1) physical fear; (2) anticipatory fear; (3) ghost fear; or (4) escape fear.
How does the police prerogative to abuse power come into effect?
Police are perceived as possessing "something extra" that can intimidate, if not frighten, most citizens.
How can you help this situation?
The officer can use appropriate police presence and professionalism to try and accomplish a positive contact with the person.
Power and Trust in a Correctional Setting
You are working as a correctional officer at the local county jail. Your shift is from 2pm to 10pm. You have noticed over the past few shifts that one particular inmate seems to be getting special treatment—including an extra lunch tray, more time out in the courtyard, and so on. After a week or so, you question the inmate about it. The inmate tells you that he does get some extra things due to "chores" he does for the day officer, including such things as shining the officer's boots.
Is this abuse of power?
Yes. Although extra chores are very common among correctional institutions, the chores should not be personal.
Does discrimination play a role?
Yes. This is discrimination because one inmate is being treated differently than others.
Is the day officer on a "slippery slope" to corruption?
Yes, it is likely that the day officer is on a "slippery slope." Because the behavior has been seen as acceptable so far, the day officer is likely to see what further favors can be had.
Power and Ethics in Probation and Parole
While working as a parole officer, you get assigned a new case. You study the case and make sure to stay on top of the required conditions of the offender's parole. As you begin to make more contact with the offender, you sense that there is a high degree of tension. You question the offender about what is going on. The offender informs you that the previous case agent was very lax with regard to the job, and has hardly every checked in on him. The offender feels he is being mistreated by having you assigned, because you're diligent in your work and make sure community service hours, alcohol and other drug screenings, and so on, are achieved. The offender says he plans to make a complaint about your actions. You know you are just doing your job right, but are concerned that a complaint so early in your career could be detrimental.
What workplace loyalties are involved?
This scenario represents integrated loyalty, which is the representation of the worker's commitment to mankind, public service, impartiality, and transcendence.
What professional accountability standards are associated?
The professional accountability standards associated are the obligation to comply with the agency's rules and regulations and to enforce policies fairly, without favoritism or discrimination.
Are there occupational subculture issues?
Yes, occupational subculture issues are involved because the "way of doing things" in the past has led to the current situation.