Please post your answers to the following questions:
In Lecture Notes: Difficult Decision-Making, consider my decision to search the residence for the fugitive. What is your opinion?
Do you conduct yourselves as if you are on video at all times? Have you done things that you would not do in front of your grandmother? Why?
How do you feel about setting limits related to tolerable behavior?
Please read Philippians 2:3 8 and explain the leadership lesson.
Dilemma:
You are the assigned investigator in the abduction of a five year old girl. Based off of your interrogation of the suspect, you believe that he is aware of the girls whereabouts. To what lengths would you go to get the suspect to reveal the location of the abducted child?
***Lecture Notes and Instructions are attached. ***
CJUS 350
Discussion Assignment Instructions
The student will complete 8 Discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 400 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of the assigned Module: Week. The student must then post at least 2 replies of at least 200 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of the assigned Module: Week. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least 2 scholarly citations in APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least 2 scholarly citation(s) in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, journal articles and professional experiences. CJUS 350
Lecture Notes: Difficult Decision-Making
No Win Situations
On one hand, you can choose to stay loyal and be seen as the stand up cop. You will continue to earn the respect, support, and loyalty of your colleagues. On the other hand, you can do what is right, stand beside your moral and ethical values, and run the distinct risk of losing this loyalty, acceptance, and support of your colleagues.
Setting Limits
Some officers address the potential of ethical dilemmas by establishing limits and clearly stating such limits to their colleagues. For example, an officer may tell his colleagues that he does not condone excessive force. Therefore, if a colleague uses excessive force, this will be addressed. On the other hand, an officer may not have a serious problem if a colleague uses profanity on the job. If the citizen does not complain, then the officer will not say anything as this activity falls within the limits of acceptable behavior for this officer.
The Principle of Benefit Maximization
This principle holds that when we are faced with a conflict concerning what we should do about any moral dilemma, we should attempt to weigh the consequences of our decision. If we judge that one particular decision is likely to lead to the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people, then this is the decision we should make. As the President of the United States, would you authorize shooting down the hijacked commercial airliner?
The Principle of Equal Respect
As opposed to the Principle of Benefit Maximization, the Principle of Equal Respect suggests that all people should be treated the same.
The Bell, The Book, The Candle
The Bellprior to making a decision, are there any warning bells ringing.
The Booklaws, regulations, code of ethics, and other forms of written guidance.
The Candlehow our decision be perceived when subjected to the light of day (public scrutiny).
The Imaginary Video Camera
The information technology world is ever growing. Are our actions caught on tape? Consider the Rodney King incident. We never know when we will be the star of an amateur video. Therefore, we must always conduct ourselves as if we are being taped.
The following story was relayed from a police officers personal experience:
Earlier this year, I was involved in an arrest situation in which the suspect resisted arrest. We subdued the suspect with the utilization of minimal force (the amount of force necessary to subdue the suspectNO MORE). After the incident, the suspect complained that we used excessive force. An investigation was conducted concerning this allegation. The next day, I was contacted by a citizen who video taped the entire incident on his cellular telephone. Is not technology great?
Critical Thinking
We should refrain from taking any idea or point of view at face value, that we should examine it carefully before making a personal judgment about it.
The following story was relayed from a police officers personal experience:
I was conducting an internal investigation recently in which the complainant stated an officer was rude to her during a traffic stop. I knew this would be an easy complaint to investigate as our patrol vehicles are equipped with digital video and audio. I researched the data base for this incident, and to my dismay, the officers audio body mic did not capture the conversation between the complainant and the officer. Did I engage in critical thinking? No, I took this bit of information at face value. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that the officer had neglected to activate the wireless body mic, which is in violation of our policies and procedures. However, during my discussion with the involved officer, he assured me that he always activates the system. Upon further investigation, I determined that this particular system was defective. Had I engaged in critical thinking, I would not have automatically taken this information at face value without looking at all possibilities. Lesson learned.
1. Will we resist the temptation to jump to conclusions about issues?
2. Will we be prepared and able to think independently?
3. Will we have the courage to be prepared to subject our own views and ideas to scrutiny by ourselves and others?
4. Will we refrain from accepting blindly any point of view or idea that is offered?
5. We can demonstrate skills of reasoning that would include the ability to honestly weigh the evidence, to trust only reliable sources of information, to disregard hearsay or unsubstantiated opinions, and to think logically about an issue.
The ultimate test:
1. Do I feel good about the decision I made?
2. Do I feel awkward or ill at ease about the decision I made?
3. Do I feel shaky about the decision I made?
4. Do I constantly look for ways to justify my decision?
The following story was relayed from a police officers personal experience:
Recently we assisted another jurisdiction with a fugitive search. I came upon a residence where a woman was at home with her 2 children. The fugitive, who had stolen 40 firearms in a residential burglary, had been seen by another police officer running in the vicinity of this residence. However, we did not have any knowledge, or belief, that the fugitive had entered this dwelling. I spoke with the woman to see if she had observed the suspect. She stated she had not, but her basement door had been left unlocked, and she asked us if we would search her home for her peace of mind. I knew we had limited human resources for this operation, but I also wanted to put this citizens mind at ease. Therefore, I directed additional personnel to search the residence. We performed a very poor search in order to limit the time we spent easing her mind as we did not have any reason to believe this fugitive would have entered a strangers home to evade capture. After performing a cursory search of the residence at best, she thanked us for checking, and we continued with our search efforts. Two hours later, this woman found the fugitive hiding in her bedroom closet. Officers responded back to the residence and took the fugitive into custody without incident. You may have seen this on the news. Yes, I am responsible for failing to end this 2 hours earlier.
Did I feel good about my decision to search the house? YES
Did I feel awkward or ill at ease about the decision I made? NO, not until I learned the fugitive was actually in the residence the entire time.
Do I constantly look for ways to justify the poor / inadequate search? ABSOLUTELY! To this day, I contemplate how horrible this could have ended. This desperate fugitive could have taken this family hostage. I underestimated his will not to be apprehended. I still try to justify the cursory search due to the fact that I did not have any reason to believe the fugitive entered this residence. No matter how I try, I cannot justify my decision to have allowed us not to thoroughly search this house. I have done a lot of soul searching but the bottom line is I failed.
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