Rookie police officer in a department that embraces both community policing and zero tolerance.
You are a rookie police officer in a department that embraces both community policing and zero tolerance. You and a senior officer who is training you, Sam Salacious, are riding your beat one day when you see a young couple, Sylvia Symmetry and Lance Lascivious, standing next to the wall of a vacant building that appears to have been freshly spray-painted with graffiti.
You and Salacious know Lascivious as a trouble-maker, and — because he is young, African-American, unemployed but drives a nice car and wears flashy clothes and lives in a bad neighborhood — you suspect him of drug activity. Symmetry is the daughter of a Caucasian owner of a neighborhood convenience store who gives cops free coffee and trades gossip and tips about bad guys in the neighborhood who are responsible for vandalism and other minor crimes. Her father is also a political committee member, and Salacious is interested in running for local Sheriff. You know Symmetry’s father is not happy about her relationship with Lascivious.
Lascivious is the product of a broken home. His father is rumored to be in state prison. His mother is on public assistance. Symmetry graduated from high school, but Lascivious is believed to have dropped out.
“Let’s have a talk with these two,” Salacious tells you. He orders them up against he wall and pats them down. Nothing is discovered, but Salacious asks Lascivious for his license and registration. Lascivious objects since he wasn’t driving at the time of the stop, and he begins shouting about police brutality and a violation of his rights. Salacious orders you to arrest Lascivious while the senior officer checks the computer for his criminal background and/or outstanding warrants. You grab Lascivious, push him up against the wall and handcuff him. Lascivious struggles to get free, and Salacious stuns him with a Taser. The car is searched, and drugs found under the seat.
Lascivious is charged with vandalism, resisting arrest and possession of narcotics. Symmetry is released. Salacious tells you to write the report and falsely state that the officers saw Lascivious painting the wall and throw something into the car as they approached and that they searched the car in order to find a paint can, drugs or a weapon. You should also state that he resisted arrest and had to be forcibly subdued. Personally, you don’t like the dishonesty, but, after all, the result was that someone with illegal narcotics was arrested.
Instructions
How would you characterize the ethical behavior of each of the police officers? How would Kant, Mills and Rawls characterize the ethical behavior of the police officers?
Does the principle of neutral competence justify you following the orders of your senior officer? Were your actions in the public interest? What constitutional principles could be said to govern proper behavior in this scenario?
Your paper should be approximately 2,400 words and free of distracting errors in spelling, punctuation or syntax. You should rely primarily on material in the reading assigned. Papers that rely only upon internet sources will not receive credit; the purpose of the assignment is to show that you have read and understood the material assigned.
