Ethical Dilemma in Criminal Justice

50

As you prepare your answers to the questions, keep in mind

that you’re a public official and that you have a duty to uphold

justice and follow the law.

Ethical Dilemma 1: Gun Rally

One afternoon you receive an anonymous tip that a local gun

advocacy group is going to hold a rally in the town square the

next day. The group hasn’t applied for a permit to have such

a rally, but they’ve held such events in the past and they’ve

always been peaceful. You strongly support Article 2 of the

Constitution and the beliefs of the gun advocacy group, and

you don’t want to do anything that will hurt them or their

members. You believe the anonymous tipster is providing

accu-

rate information, but you can’t be absolutely sure. You also

believe no one else in your police department is aware of the

impending event.

What do you do? Give reasons to support your decision.

Ethical Dilemma 2: Chief’s Orders

Assume that in response to question 1 you decided to advise

your fellow police officers about the tip you received. You

gather a group of officers together the next day in case the

unlawful rally is held. As the gun advocacy group begins to

appear on the town square green, you confer with the chief

officer on duty that day. She tells you to wait until the entire

group has gathered and then storm the area, with tear gas

and billy clubs. You’re further instructed to arrest everyone

you can and to charge them with unlawful assembly, tres-

passing, rioting, and anything else you can come up with.

She also makes some very derogatory comments about any-

one who supports such a group, claiming they’re terrorists

and thugs. You personally disagree with the chief and believe

she’s acting both improperly and immorally, allowing her

personal beliefs to interfere with her legal responsibilities

as a police officer.

What do you do? Do you follow her orders? Why or why not?

Explain your answer.

51

Ethical Dilemma 3: Accepting Favors

You’re asked to investigate the gun advocacy group and their

activities. To do so, you need to work with the police depart-

ment in the next county. After contacting their chief, you’re

assigned to work with another seasoned officer who has also

been conducting some preliminary investigations of the group.

You decide to do some field investigations together the follow-

ing day. While you’re out doing your investigations, the other

officer decides to stop at the local convenient market for a

sandwich and coffee. He picks up what he wants, waves to

the owner, and returns to the police vehicle—without paying

for the items. When you ask him about it, he says that he

has an “arrangement” with the owner and not to worry about

it. He explains that he and the store owner help each other

out (meaning the officer provides additional protection to the

store in exchange for the food). Finally, he

says, “If you’re

hungry, go inside and pick up what you want.”

What do you do and what concerns do you have? Explain

your answers.

Ethical Dilemma 4: Reporting a Deal

You happen to be in the courthouse during the trial of some

of the members of the gun advocacy group. As you walk by

the chambers of the judge who is presiding over the trial of

this case, you overhear the judge and the chief prosecutor

discussing the case. The judge is talking about one of the

defendants in the case and is making some very derogatory

comments. In the past, you’ve often appeared in trials before

this judge, and you’ve always felt he has been fair and impar-

tial

to all involved. In this case, however, you’re concerned that

the judge and prosecutor may be engaging in inappropriate

activity. This situation is particularly troublesome because

the trial is proceeding at the request of all parties as a bench

trial, with the decision being rendered by the judge without

the benefit of a jury.

What would you do? Explain your answer.

52

Ethical Dilemma 5: Breaking Prison Rules

In the course of your investigation of the gun advocacy group,

you have to go to your local county prison to question one of

the group members being held there pending trial. This par-

ticular individual has been a problem inmate and is being held

in solitary confinement. He’s to have no contact with other

members of the group. You meet with him in a private inter-

rogation room with no one else in attendance. He knows that

you generally support the group, and he does his best to

answer your questions, although his answers aren’t always as

complete as you would like. At the end of the questioning—

just before he rises to leave the room—he slips you a note

in a sealed envelope and asks that you give it to someone

who is involved in the gun advocacy group. He says it’s very

important and implores you to just hand it to the person or

drop it in the mail. He then leaves the interrogation room.

What do you do? Explain your answer.

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS

1. Create a title page with the following information:

a. Title: Ethics in Criminal Justice

b. Your name

c. Your Student Number

d. Project number: 50176000

e. Current date

2. Prepare your answers to the ethical dilemmas in a

word-processing program. Each answer should be at

least 250 words.

3. Double-space your answers, with left and right margins

of 1 to 1.25 inches, flush left and ragged right. Use a

plain 12-point font.

53

4. Incorporate and properly reference any sources of infor-

mation you’ve used to develop your answers. To cite your

sources, please follow this procedure:

a. Use in-text citations to indicate references to infor-

mation from outside sources. Include the author’s

name and the relevant page number(s) in parenthe-

ses. Here’s an example: Human beings have been

described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).

b. At the end of your paper, include a Works Cited

page, listing all of the sources you’ve consulted.

Use either MLA or APA format for this page. For

information on how to prepare this page, go to the

Penn Foster Library and click on

Guidebooks and

Tips

in the main menu.

5.

Read over your work carefully. Make sure it’s professional

with correct formatting, grammar, and citations, along

with adequate support for any arguments you make.

6. Submit the final draft of your work, along with the title

page, only after you’ve completed writing your answers

to each dilemma.