Discretion and Decision Making

  As law enforcement officers, there are ethical decisions that need to be made. Some are mandatory by law and others are discretionary. Utilizing those two options, how would you respond in a situation where you actions may be questioned or over-ruled? Analyze the ethical dilemma. Scenario: As a patrol officer, you are only doing your job when you stop a car for running a red light. Unfortunately, the driver of the car happens to be the mayor. You give her a ticket anyway, but the next morning you get called into the captain’s office and told in no uncertain terms that you screwed up, for there is an informal policy extending “courtesy” to city politicians. Several nights later, you observe the mayor’s car weaving erratically across lanes and speeding. Read the case study found in the textbook in Chapter 5, page 143, situation 1. Pollock, J.M. (2018). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. • Explain the ethical dilemma. • What would you do? • What if the driver were a fellow police officer? • What if it were a high school friend?