Fourteenth Amendment
There are several amendments to the constitutions of the U.S. Among the amendments, Fourteenth Amendment in the U.S constitution was assumed on 9th July in the year 1868, as a Reconstruction Amendment. The amendment deals with the equal protection of the laws and citizenship rights and was proposed in reaction to issues associated with former slaves after the American Civil War. The amendment was severely contested, mainly by Southern states, which were enforced to sanction it so as to make sure they reclaim representation in Congress.
Fourteenth Amendment offers equal protection under the law. Since this amendment with equal protection of the laws and citizenship rights, it can be said that it is a case in the U.S criminal justice system. Even though this amendment exists, it is important for people to control their actions. It is important for people to be held accountable for their actions.
With the dilemma where the commercial airliner has been commandeered by a terrorist, it is important to take quick action to prevent a major disaster from happening. The aircraft is carrying an enormous number of people, 310 passengers. The plane can crash on Yankee Stadium, which is fully packed with players and spectators. In this situation, if the greater good justifies my decision, my move would be talking to terrorist and initiate a negotiation process to delay their plan. This would give me more time to come up with a strategy of trying to rescue 310 passengers held hostage on the plane.
Standard Operating Procedures
There are many unacceptable behaviors that can be easy could be added to a department's standard operating procedures under the ethics category. These behaviors are intolerable and are regarded by the police and corrections department as unethical. In the police and corrections department, it is important to maintain acceptable behaviors to make sure that all people are served appropriately. Among the unacceptable behaviors that can be added to department’s standard operating procedures under the ethics category include bribing, involvement in illegal business, interfering with the evidence, illegally detaining individuals and corruption.
Offering a bribe is a great mistake in police and corrections department since it can affect the working procedure of the officers. Bribes are used to influence the decisions of the officers in the favor of the person offering the bribe. The main reason that bribing should be added to standard operating procedures is that it affects the work efficiency and service delivery of the police and officers in the corrections department. Offering of the bribe would make it extremely hard for justice to be realized.
There are some involved in illegal businesses that include selling illegal drugs. Most of the officers who are involved in illegal businesses are motivated by their greed to make extra money. Because adding this unethical behavior to standard operating procedures is that the officers in police and corrections department are interrupted in their work when they are involved in any business other than their duties and responsibilities.
In many cases, there is evidence involved. This evidence is used in different stages of case management, before and during the court process. Due to its importance, it is an unethical behavior to interfere with the evidence. Thus, this behavior should be added to standard operating procedures since officers in police and corrections department are required to ensure that any evidence is kept safely.
Another unethical behavior is illegally detaining individuals. It is extremely unethical to detain a person without clear evidence that someone was involved in the alleged accusations. Thus, it is important to add this behavior to standard operating procedures since it is unethical to detain wrong an accused person.
Corruption has always been a vice in different federal and governmental departments. Corruption denies some people the opportunities that they greatly deserve. Additionally, corruption interferes with the expected service delivery procedure. There is a need to add corruption to standard operating procedures since through avoiding it; it would be easy to ensure fairness and justice in the provision of services in police and corrections department.
Ethical Issues
Although it is important to have a written code of conducts governing the police and corrections officers, it is essential to have an unwritten code of conduct governing the behavior of police and corrections officers. The unwritten code of conduct helps the officer to have something to refer to every time they are performing their duties. Because of the type of their work, it important for the police and corrections officers to be guided by rules that are part of their day to day activities.
There is a need to ensure that every officer fully understand the unwritten code of conduct. This should be done by training all police and corrections officers to make sure that they understand the importance of an unwritten code of conduct. However, there is need to convert the unwritten code of conduct into laws governing the operations of police and corrections officers.
About the dilemma in which a friend has violated the unwritten code of ethic, it is always important to make sure that justice is realized to both parties. In this situation, the case is complicated since the police office had been formerly received disciplinary sanctions earlier for unwarranted use of force. It is not good to see a colleague violating the laws governing their day to day activities in the line of duty. The fact is that the right of the criminal suspect was violated by being struck. As much I would want the suspect to get justice, I would not want to see my partner lose his job. Thus, the best way of managing this situation is through mediation. I would act as the mediator by ensuring that the officer apologizes to the suspect. I would ensure that the apology make the suspect feels better. I would also talk to my partner and let her understand that it is wrong to violate the code of conduct especially while executing their duties and responsibilities.
Incidents
It was a candid move for Detective Serpico to expose issues of corruption in the police department in New York City. Police officers have significant responsibilities of taking care and protecting all the citizens in the country. The act of corruption in the police department can significantly affect service delivery to the people. The fact that Detective Serpico was shot dead due to their move in exposing corruption cases is stressing issue to many American. It is understood that it is his colleagues planned this execution. This means that subculture is a real issue in most government departments, particularly in the police department.
I believe that subculture is so high that any officer considered to be a "snitch" or a "rat" will be ostracized. Due to the emergence of illegal activities, such as acts of corruption, there are different cultures of people in police department across the U.S. Any office who disagrees with unethical behaviors of other officers is always disliked. This means that an officer could not be afforded assistance or backup in a crisis. This is because; this officer is always seen, by other as a traitor, and they would be comfortable if that officer is no more.
The blue wall of silence refers to the terms applied in the United States to signify the unwritten law that exists in the police department whereby the police officers should not report on a colleague's misconducts, errors, or crimes. This blue wall of silence indeed exist even today in most states whereby when the officer is questioned about an occurrence of misconduct involving another officer the officer being asked would claim unawareness of another officer's misconduct. Due to this, it is true that a policeman with very strong values, morals, and ethics would fail to expose officer wrongdoing. This means that subculture restrain the officer's individual values.
Lead by Example
Field training officer plays a significant role in the organization. They may be highly experienced individuals or senior member of companies or organizations who is in charge of the evaluation and training of a junior or provisional level member. It is always important to make sure that the most suitable field training officers are selected to ensure that the training process in the organization is effectively done.
Training offices will always influence the kind of training are that are adopted in the organization. Thus, it is necessary to make sure that the selected field training officer understands the goals and objectives of the organization. By doing this, it will be real to make sure that field training officer only focuses on the training processes that will equip employees and other stakeholders with the understanding required to drive the organization into realizing the set goals.
In any situation, there is always a way of dealing with the emerging issue or the main concern. In a particular scenario, it is important to assess the moral courage and moral weakness to find out the best way of handling the situation. The best approach to dealing with any scenario is considering the remedy of the situation. In the scenario found in the lecture notes, I would have employed the moral courage in order make sure that everything is well, and the morals aspects are observed. This is important since it can be a lesson to other individuals who are faced with a similar situation in the future.
Conduct Becoming
People always make decisions depending on the issues affecting them or their desire to realize the set target. This means that the decision made depends on the different situation. There are some people who would search the residence for the fugitive in the decision-making process. In relation to searching residence for the fugitive, I feel that it is a definite move in dealing with a situation that requires careful consideration while making key decisions. I would recommend that searching residence for the fugitive should be employed in delicate situations.
The way people conduct themselves is extremely important. To make sure people make a contribution to the positive growth of the community, there is a need for all individuals to ensure that they adopt the desirable conducts. To make sure that my conduct does not make people view me negatively, I always conduct myself as if I am on video. This helps me in maintaining the most suitable conducts. I always make sure that my conducts are in line with the morals of the community. This has helped me to maintain the best conducts that can be emulated by other people in the community. Having always conducting myself in the right way, has helped maintain the best conduct all the time. Because of this, I have never done things that I would not do in front of my grandmother. In relation to Conduct Becoming, it is important set ensure that only the best conducts are embraced while inappropriate behavior are discouraged.
In a dilemma that relate to getting information to the kidnapper, there is need to have a limit of behavior while the investigator is seeking information. In a situation where I believe that the abductor has information that is required in recapturing the gal, I would employ psychology to ensure that all the information is obtained from the kidnapper. I would avoid physically hurting the kidnapper, but instead I would inform the kidnapper about the consequences of not revealing important information to the required authority.
Right or Wrong
It is important to understand what is right and what is wrong. This understanding is important in ensuring that only the most important thing is done in the community and the organizations. In relation to this understanding, it is important to consider individual thinking and team players.
It is important to combine and share ideas to accomplish something together. When individuals come together, they can deliberate and come up with the most important decision that can be employed in realizing the set goals. Individual thinkers can share their ideas with other people in the team to influence the outcome of the activity being undertaken. Thus, it is clear that the independent thinker can be a team player.
Every person does something that could be considered wrong. When someone do something wrong, it is important to assess the damage of the mistake and seek the solution to the mistake. One of the most crucial things is for people to admit that they have done wrong. Something significant thing to note is that there is a difference between a mistake of the heart and an error of the mind. The mistake of mind occurs when people think that they have done mistakes. On the other hand, the mistake of heart means that there is emotional attachment to the mistake done.
Although it is wrong to lie, there are some exceptions to telling lies. One is allowed to lie if those lies if telling the truth will cause damage. On issues related to court cases, it is important for the investigator to lie to the suspect in the attempt to obtain the required information. Thus, due to the exception that necessitates it, it is ethical and moral to lie to the suspectr to obtain the required information.
