Homework Question on The Ethical Dilemmas in Police Department
- For this assignment, you will interview a law enforcement officer regarding his or her views about accepting gratuities.
- During the interview with the officer, you will discuss the following topics related to gratuities, reporting on the interview in your Individual Project report:
- Determine from the officer the department’s official policy related to gratuities, and relate how strictly that policy is enforced.
- Discuss any “unofficial” code regarding gratuities. Does the officer feel that he or she should be allowed to accept small gratuities such as free or discounted meals or coffee?
You will then explore and report on the following questions in your Individual Project report:
- Discuss in detail 2 basic arguments against the acceptance of gratuities.
- Do you believe, based upon your reading of the topic of gratuities and your interview of the police officer, that gratuities lead to more serious breaches of ethics in law enforcement?
- Provide support for your assessment.
Homework Answer on The Ethical Dilemmas in Police Department
Determine from the officer the department’s official policy related to gratuities, and relate how strictly that policy is enforced.
Most of the police officers, especially in Florida, have a trend of visiting shops in town for a free cup of coffee. However, such actions are regarded as unethical and they call for law enforcement policies to abolish them. The fact is evident from the response got from an interview with one officer who affirmed the recent trend of accepting gifts or gratuities by police officers. Nevertheless, one of the legal officers in Florida town ascertains that the police department has set policies that discourage officers from accepting a gratuity or any form of favor from executives or people they protect.
According to Walker (2012), the citywide personnel policy is one of the implemented policies that deal with gifts. Consequently, the federal regulations also state that no regular government official should accept any form of gratuity as a compensation for the service he or she is rendering to the public. The policy prohibits employees from taking gratuity or gifts from individuals they carry out business with. The policy aims at promoting the public relations where favoritism leads the course.
The “unofficial” code regarding gratuities.
One of the unofficial codes regarding gratuities is associated with corruption. Most of the officers do accept such incentives in exchange for a favor. It is evident that acceptance of gratuities opens room for the officers to have corrupted acts, as to those who offer gratuities to receive something in return (Prenzler, Beckley and Bronitt, 2013). Such practices pave way for corruption, which is unethical. It is evident that gifts offered as goodwill would not be considered as unlawful. m of gratuity in exchange for the service to the public.