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October 31, 2018

Chapter 2

The process solving ethical dilemmas in law enforcement requires a comprehensive rationale that justifies the right from wrong with respect to decision-making process. This means that the policy makers, officers and other stakeholders should a clear understanding of the normative theories and systems of ethics. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify and analyze the ethical theories and they influence the processes of criminal justice and law enforcement in the United States by focusing on the normative theories and systems.

There are various philosophical systems that are utilized while making a decision. These systems use theories such as the normative ethics, Meta ethics and applied ethics. This section will put a major focus on the Normative theories which are typically concerned with the ethical systems related to the norms standards and or, criteria that the address on the principles of ethical behavior (Evans and Macmillan 2014, p.27). Normative theories of ethics are further divided into utilitarianism, virtue ethics, egoism, and ethics of care, deontology, natural law, divine command theory, and moral relativism, Rawls’s theory of justice and social contract theory. These theories help individuals to make informed decisions when faced with major ethical dilemmas.

To begin with, Utilitarian Ethics are majorly concerned with the ethical decisions and the consequences that accompany these decisions. In a nutshell, this theory is best described as a consequential or teleological theory because it stipulates that the consequence of an action is the determinant of it being moral or not. According to Jeremy Bentham (1748-132), the principles that illustrate utility focus on measuring maximum pleasure with respect to minimum pain which means pleasure is preferred over pain (Sandel, 2010). However, there is a reconsideration concerning the principles of utilitarianism as proposed by John Stuart Mill who suggests that sensual should expound further into the mental pleasure such as literature, friendship and music (Hinman, 2013). This brings out the difference between happiness and pleasure as: happiness relates to mental senses while pleasure relates to the bodily pleasures such as sex and food; pleasure is short-term whereas happiness is long-term; both can be looked at and happiness can encompass both pleasure and pain. The theory of utilitarianism is formulated by act and rule utilitarianism respectively. This theory helps the law enforcement officers on the notion for need for discretion while making exigent decisions and evaluates the consequences of their actions.

The Kantian logic or Deontological theory is an ethical system concerned with the obligations and duties of an individual. This theory was developed by Immanuel Kant, who focused on the moral intent of an action rather than the end result. This means that a law enforcement officer has an imperative and absolute obligation towards their duties as stipulated by the law. These obligations are conditional and categorical imperatives respectively. Conditional duties are necessary in meeting a set goal such as patrol officer writing several search warrants so as to be considered to be a detective while categorical imperatives are duties carried out while respecting the dignity of others regardless of the outcome (Kant, 2006).

The theory on the virtues of ethics developed by Aristotle focuses on the virtue of a police officer to do good deeds and be of good character even when faced with ethical dilemmas (Pollock). According to Hinman (2013) Aristotle proposed the virtues such as: moral virtues that describe goodness; executive virtues of courage and strength and intellectual virtues. This implies that law enforcement officers should exhibit courage, compassion, wisdom, generosity and be truthful among other virtues. This also echoes the Six Pillars of Character of an ethical police officer which include justice and fairness, trustworthiness, caring, civic virtue and citizenship, and respect.

The feminist ethics of care is concerned with caring for one another, especially for those cannot care for themselves such as the old adults and infants by portraying peace-making and peace-keeping roles in law enforcement. Officers should act out of compassion for the welfare of others as well as creating a good rapport with the community members through community policing. Officers should find ways of resolving community issues amicably and with respect and compassion.

Egoism refers to a descriptive theory that explains why an individual behaves by considering their moral actions (Pollock, 2007). This means that police officers will perform their duties diligently to acquire self-gratification. It also helps the officer to understand the motives of the law offenders and show empathy for these suspects hence ensuring a peaceful society based on good decisions made.

The Divine Command Theory focuses on the moral reasoning based on the religious views and virtues. This theory focuses on God as the guiding principle that people should rely on (Pollock, 2007). This means that people measure their action as being right or wrong based on the commands of God and how they interpret the scriptures and acknowledge His existence. This also brings out the notion of divine eternity as well as well everlasting condemnation based on our actions. This enables law enforcement officers to act with care and empathy by being aware of the religion of an individual who might be unfairly victimized.

Natural law is by extension, a view that God created the world and human beings were given the intellect to comprehend ethical choices that they should make. This is according to its proponent, Saint Thomas Aquinas. This means that humans are inclined naturally to do good rather committing evils (White, 2006). Natural law focuses on preserving life and human species as a form of universal morality. This law helps the law enforcement officers to understand their roles such as ensuring public safety over protection of property hence enabling them to act with dignity by preserving their lives and those of others.

Thomas Hobbes’s Social Contract Theory on the other hand focuses the relationships existing between rules and laws and their impact on the society. This theory advocates for a society in a state of nature where rule of law is abandoned for a brute force which is dictated by fitness to survive. This occurs in cases where is catastrophic disaster or chaos such as war and or, natural calamities. The solution to this is through a social contract where people come together for a collective understanding to enforce unwritten rules that protect the safety of every individual (Evans and MacMillan, 2014). This theory applies to law enforcement through the imbalance contracts that they make with the members of the society such as providing safety, but they end exceeding their powers beyond what is expected of them. This is common with the FBI operations.

Rawls’s Theory of Justice focuses on the function of the criminal justice systems and their personnel being aware of this theory based on liberalism. This theory ensures that there is fairness and equality in the society without factoring in the aspects such as race, sexual orientation, health, gender and education among other factors (Rawls, 2006). The principle of Moral Relativism on the other hand is concerned with the differences in morality existing in different cultures especially with regards to a pluralistic mainstream society. This enables police officers to respect and perceive the different aspects of moral acts while experiencing different circumstances (Catlin and Maupin, 2002).

Personal critique

The Normative Theories of ethics provide a comprehensive rationale that enables an individual to make a personal reflection on what he/she considers to be right or wrong as well as factoring in on the principles that hold the dynamics of the society. In law enforcement agencies, the normative theories of ethics form a basic part of decision-making processes that affect the criminal justice and law enforcement.

These philosophical systems have also informed how I view the world and the decisions that I make with regards on my personal morals and ethics of behavior. The normative theories such as virtue ethics and care ethics have enabled to view my character and develop compassion and sympathy towards others in the society by developing an urge and desire to do good even faced with ethical dilemmas. The virtues such as intellect, virtues of courage and strength as well as executive virtues have also become the integral part of my life that made me to exhibit courage even in face of turbulent times and a yearning for fairness and justice.

As a strong believer of religion, the divine command theory has drawn me near to my creator because I am able to measure my actions based on the teachings of the scriptures and become aware of what is right and wrong hence enabling me to make informed decisions. By acknowledging the existence of God in my life, I am in a position the different phenomenon of the world and learn to be conscious of the religious views and beliefs of my colleagues thus making me to act with care and in fairness. The principle of moral relativism has also been of key importance in how I view the different views of ethics from different communities that exist in a pluralistic society. Being armed with these principles and ethical theories has enabled me to perceive different aspects of life and morality in the mainstream society and come up with ways to approach and solve different circumstances.

References

Banks, C. (2013). Criminal Justice Ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.

Catlin, D. and Maupin, J. (2002). Ethical orientations of state police recruits and one year experienced officers. Journal of Criminal Justice 30: 491-498.

Evans and MacMillan (2014). Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice and Public Safety. (4th ed). Edmond Montgomery Publications, Toronto.

Hinman, L. (2013). Ethics: a pluralistic approach to moral theory. Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Kant, E. (2006). The Categorical Imperative. In J. White (Ed.) Contemporary Moral Problems (pp. 14-50). Belmont CA. Thomson Wadsworth.

Chapter 3

The law enforcement agencies experience various ethical dilemmas that range from widespread corruption cases to failure to abide by the laws by some of the enforcement officers. These infractions of legal violations stem from various aspects of moral and ethical dilemmas with regards to the integrity of an individual. It is on this vein that it is important to analyze the ethical issues in law enforcement with a dynamic understand so as to comprehend the challenges that face law enforcement when faced with a serious ethical dilemma that require them to make informed decisions. This requires a critical assessment that surpasses the common variables of ethics and morals by critically analyzing other underlying unforeseen factors. This paper therefore, provides a detailed summary on the various elements of ethical dilemmas such as values and provision of possible solution for addressing ethical dilemmas.

Ethical dilemmas make it difficult for a decision to be arrived at because it involves two favorable competing values that require an individual to balance between them by making the right decision. To ensure that ethical dilemmas are solved, there is need to understand the most favorable values and Pollock gives a definition of values as the unverified elements of worth, desirability and importance that are not culpable of being proven scientifically and those that which vary from one individual to another (Pollock, 2010).

Values are the guiding principles that give a sense of direction to an individual, an agency and their employees. In law enforcement there are different values depending on the infractions and their core functions. This paper will base its understanding of values by focusing on various Canadian agencies through the information provided in their websites concerning the values that they uphold. For instance, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has three values; Integrity, Respect and Professionalism. Their value of integrity focuses on exercising the authority and power with openness, honesty and fairness to maintain a reputation of accountability. Their value on respect focuses on serving the interest of the public through a non-partisan approach, upholding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and developing a sustainable mutual trust while the value on professionalism asserts on proper use of public resources, efficient service delivery and individual and collective responsibility.

The BC Corrections employs the values of integrity, courage, teamwork, passion, service, curiosity and accountability while Vancouver Police Department has four main vales: integrity, professionalism, accountability and respect (IPAR). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the other hand has six main core values: integrity, honesty, respect, professionalism, honesty, accountability and compassion. When for job opportunities in any of these agencies, individual should analyze their personal core values through their own daily demonstration and relating them to those of the agency (Caldero and Crank, 2004).

Law enforcement personnel should have an agreed upon set of values. The values should be strictly observed and be like the culture of the agency. In working with members of other agencies, one should observe their values. Values should be taken as a compass by the agents. They should be followed as a single set and not in isolation as they are all interrelated. Considering a situation with people having deferent values, each one of them will be considering values that are important to them. The values may change in relation to the environment.

Ethics Resource Center (2009) identifies values that appears throughout the ethics code. Some of these values include: acceptance, accountability, forgiveness, fairness and wisdom. With values as the reference point, Social Workers association has come up with a framework to tackle ethical dilemmas. The framework has steps in dealing with the dilemmas. The values in a dilemma are determined in case they exist. Principles and key values involved are identified and ranked. In ranking, one’s professional judgement determines the issues relevant in the dilemma. An action plan is then developed that goes hand in hand with the ethical priorities. Consider if your plan and its values are justifiable. The plan is then implemented using most appropriated competencies. Finally, one reflects on the results of the ethical decision-making process.

Evans and MacMillan (2014) also came up with a framework with 10 steps in making ethical decisions efficient and practical. A simple alternative framework has been developed that should be considered. It begins with establishment of facts surrounding ethical dilemma. In investigating any case, officers must rely entirely facts to guard cognitive biases. This should also be followed in dealing with ethical dilemmas. One should then determine their legal duties and obligations. This ensures one knows the consequences of their actions in case they choose to do contrary to what is required of them.

This is followed by establishment of interested participants. Those that will be impacted by the course of action are determined. Primary participants are easily identifiable while secondary participants cannot be identified easily. The ethical values of each of the participant is then determined. This enables one to fully understand what is at stake. Normative ethical theories aide to determine the course of action. Considering this, one can easily decide on the best course of action. Considering options that are ethically sound follows this. Each option available should be considered critically. Positive and negative impacts of the decision are then considered. Try predicting the unintended consequences of the decision

Personal critique

The chapter on Ethical Dilemmas and the Process of Effective Resolution has far reaching lessons that have been of great benefit in my life with regards to the decisions and choices that I have had to make and also informed me on the future possible decisions and ethical dilemma situations that I will have to face. It is without a doubt that the law enforcement agencies will benefit from this lesson because they are able to draw their guiding principles using this chapter on ethical dilemmas as the point of references. These agencies and their employees are always facing different challenges due to the dynamisms of the society that relate to corruption issues, moral issues and other securities that affect their employees as well as the general public.

I have also drawn life lessons from this chapter concerning my own personal ethical decisions and the dilemmas that I have had to experience in my life as I engage in the daily activities. This is more so, on the principles that inform my integral values and the ways that I approach challenging problems and the solutions that I provide to these dilemmas. I have had to reflect on my personal values such as integrity, compassion, respect and accountability and how these values affect the decisions that I make in my life.

I had developed a culture of accountability and personal responsibility that has enabled me to observe them and make decisions that affect my personal and public life because I am aware that my personal choices will ultimately affect my personal life and the people that I interact with in different environments such as place of work and school. With this framework in mind, I am able to confront difficult issues of ethical dilemmas and make the right choices and judgments that will bring about a positive ethical decision when all is said and done.

References

Crank, J. P., & Caldero, M. A. (2004). Police Ethics: The Corruption of Noble Cause (2nd ed.). United States: Anderson Publishing Company (OH).

Schroeder, D. J., & Lombardo, F. A. (2013). Management and supervision of law enforcement personnel.