CJ 510 2-1 Memorandum Ethical Dilemmas
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Southern New Hampshire University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
510
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
3
Uploaded by Trhadrick83
MEMORANDUM
To: Police Chief
From: Antonio Hadrick
Date: September 27, 2023
Re: Protests
I.
INTRODUCTION
My name is Antonio Hadrick. As you know I am the police commander who is in the midst of
the protests. While we are currently staffed with about a hundred officers, the number of protestors has grown exponentially. There are several thousand people here. While some of regular civilians who are here to peacefully protest and have even brought their children, others are dressed all in black with helmets and gas masks or umbrellas and are starting to advance on our officers. We are facing an ethical dilemma in how to stave off the protestors from overtaking our officers. While tear gas would generally be the recommended course of action, this seems wrong as it will no doubt affect those civilians who are peacefully protesting with their children.
II.
MAIN SUBJECT MATTER OF MEMO
I am facing an ethical dilemma as to whether or not to deploy tear gas. On one hand, it is the recommended course of action in order to disperse the several thousand protestors who are becoming more and more rowdy. It may likely be the only way we have to keep this
group from overtaking our officers. The dilemma for me is that many of the protestors that are worrisome to us have come prepared. You can who they are as they are dressed in all black with helmets, face shields, and umbrellas to protect themselves. Sadly, those who would be most affected are the innocent and peaceful protestors who are regular civilians just here to peacefully protest with their kids. Despite this fact, many of my Sergeants have advised me that we are nearing the point in which we will be forced to dispel tear gas to disperse the crowd. Tear gas has long been used to disperse crowds during protests and riots, both nationally and internationally, despite being banned in warfare by the Chemical Weapons Convention (Lai, et al., 2020). I believe that with proper training our police officers can do their jobs effectively without resorting to such methods. Police officers are often given the task of de-
escalating their interactions with the public and if needed using force as a way to gain compliance (Bennell, et al., 2020). The problem comes in when our officers are not trained in just how to respond appropriately in these situations where it is imperative to achieve the
optimal resolution for all (Bennell, et al., 2020).
The factors in this case are creating an ethical dilemma on my part. I cannot in good faith ask
my fellow officers to deploy a technique which could cause harm to innocent civilians, but on the other hand I cannot put their lives and safety in harm’s way. Utilitarianism holds that morality must be determined by consequences of an action (Pollock, 2022). An act is moral if it benefits continuance and good health of society (Pollock, 2020). So, while there may be some negative implications in this course of action, ethically speaking we are doing it for the
good of society. IT is necessary to disperse the thousands in the crowd before this protest turns into a full-scale riot and our entire city is forever changed.
References
Bennell, C., Blaskovits, B., Jenkins, B., Semple, T. Khanizadeh, A.J., Brown, A.S., & Jones, N.J. (2020). Promising practices for de-escalation and use of force training in the police setting: A narrative review. Policing: An International Journal, 44(3), 377-404. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm-06-2020-0092
Lai, K.K., Marsh, Bill., & Singhvi, A. (2020, June 16). Here are the 100 U.S. cities where protestors were tear gassed. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/16/us/george-floyd-protests-police-
tear-gas.html
Pollock, J.M. (2021). Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice (11
th
ed). Cengage Learning US. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9780357512951
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help