1)Because of the pressures and stress of police work, sometimes, police officers may develop psychological problems and or problems with alcohol or drug addiction. If another officer in a police department suspects or knows a comrade has developed psychological and or alcohol or drug addiction problems, what ethical obligation does that officer have to report those perceived problems to supervisors within the department? How does your personal ethics guide this decision? How can one judge when these obligations may be triggered?
***Use the GCU Library for sources (https://library.gcu.edu/ )
The DQ response must be at least 200 words and should have at least one reference in APA format
2) Write a 100-word response to each student in first person as if you were writing it to the students. Talk about how you agree with their ideas and add your own thoughts. Make sure it’s respectful.
1 student) Police work can be rewarding in many ways; however, it is also accompanied by many stresses and pressures. Being a police officer means that each call for assistance could potentially be dangerous to include violence, injury, and some cases even death (Banks, 2020). This is just one of many situations that can create stress for an officer. These stresses also may contribute to officers developing psychological problems and or problems with alcohol and drug addictions. Unfortunately, the police officers who do find methods such as these to cope with their stress are reluctant to seek professional help as police culture often disapproves of this (Banks, 2020). If an officer were to suspect or know that another has developed either psychological or addiction issues, there is an ethical responsibility to report these issues. The effects that these issues can have on an officer may affect not only their personal lives, but their performance as well. This leaves too much room for error, especially if you must rely on that officer to work with you in a potentially dangerous call for service. Personally, I would feel ethically responsible if a major incident were to happen and I was aware of the surrounding issues and never spoke up. Being part of a police unit also means looking out for the best interest of your coworkers. Helping them get the assistance they need in confidentiality will not only help them to effectively manage the stresses that they hold, but it can also improve work performance and help to keep them and others safe. Deciding when to report is the more difficult part of the situation. There are many people who go home and have a drink to deal with their problems after work. For me, I would feel that looking for signs of their issues getting increasingly worse would be the time to report.
Savannah
Reference:
Banks, C. (2020). Criminal justice ethics (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing. ISBN-13: 9781544353593
2 student) There are federal statutes that clearly bans drugs on a workplace, especially if it is in a government agency, because of the responsibilities it withholds towards the public. The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 clearly requires federal agents to be drug free, where employee sanctions and remedies are part of its regulations. The requirements for individuals states that no federal agency shall enter into a contract with an individual unless such individual will not engage in the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of controlled substance in the performance of the contract, (Title 41, n.d). Most private employers are not required to have a drug-free workplace policy of any kind; however, federal contractors are expected to maintain their requirements of having a drug-free workplace policy because their positions involves sensitive security responsibilities (SAMSAH, 2020).
Fitch, (2011), affirms that law enforcement officers must safeguard the public’s trust to perform their jobs effectively, since ethical conducts greatly impacts public trust, law enforcement agencies must closely examine their policies, reward systems, and training to ensure that their agency promote a culture of firm ethical values. Therefore, the ethical obligations the officer has in this situation is to report it to his chief officer before the situation gets completely out of hand where in addition can endanger the lives of innocent people on their surroundings if an officer is under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the performance of a sensitive responsibility in which requires the person to have all their senses working full speed.
Reference
Fitch, B. D. (2011). Rethinking Ethics in Law Enforcement. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 80(10), 18–24.
Chapter 10- Drug-Free Workplace. (n.d). Title 41 Public Contracts. Retrieved from: https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/program…
Federal laws and regulations. (2020, August 4). SAMHSA – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from: https://www.samhsa.gov/workplace/legal/federal-law…
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