Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice / 5 questions

The Tidewater Police Department is a small rural department that consists of 22 police officers, 4 detectives, a criminal intelligence analyst and 3 secretaries. The police department has a new Chief of Police that has created and enacted a Code of Conduct and Ethics Policy. About half of the officers have 20+ years of experience and the other half have less than 3 years of experience.

You are a rookie police officer on your first patrol. The older, experienced officer tells you that the restaurant on the corner likes to have the police around, so they always give free meals. Your partner orders steak, potatoes, and all the trimmings which total almost $50.00. What are you going to do?

Conduct an ethical analysis on the situation based on what you’ve learned over the last four weeks. Complete the following essay questions. Each essay question should have a minimum of 4-5 sentences, but may warrant more information for a complete answer.

You can assume that the Code of Conduct and Ethics Policy prohibits employees from accepting gratuities.

1.) Describe the three principles of ethical decision making this rookie officer will face in this situation.

2.) Explain the difference between discretion and duty; how could each of these be applied to the rookie officer?

3.) Compare and contrast the different ethical systems and how they would apply to the rookie officer’s moral behavior.

4.) What steps could the Tidewater Police Department’s organizational leaders take to encourage ethical decision making by the rookie officer?

5.) What are some of the ethical arguments “for” and “against” gratuities that the rookie officer could give when questioned by the Chief?