Individual Ethical Responsibility – Public Servants
Overview: As public servants, law enforcement professionals play a critical role in developing good governance. Citizens expect their public servants to demonstrate high standards of professionalism and ethics. Public servants must demonstrate loyalty, neutrality, transparency, diligence, punctuality, effectiveness, and impartiality. Demonstrating these ethical principles in the public service environment ensures the public trusts, public servants, to do the right thing. Ethics should guide a public servant’s exercise of judgment and discretion when carrying out their official duties. Therefore, public servants must understand their individual ethical responsibility.
But what is an individual’s ethical responsibility? To answer that question, focus into the theories of ethics.
What is Ethics?
Objective: Understand the three main philosophical theories of ethics as it relates to public servants
Readings: Chapter 1 in Pollock;
Readings Overview: Pollock provides an overview of what moral behavior is. Pay close attention to the information starting on page 7 to page 19, discussing duties, and values, making moral judgments, and analyzing ethical dilemmas
Pollock introduces both Felkenes’and Braswell’s explanation of why the study of ethics is essential for criminal justice professionals. Pollock also adds three additional explanations.
In your opinion, which one of these explanations includes the most critical reasons? Make sure to explain why by discussing all three perspectives in the discussion of your opinion.
Answer Situation 3 on page 22 of the book. Explain what she may have believed was her duty as a mother.
In your opinion, were her actions the right thing to do? Was it ethical? Make sure that your answer is at least three paragraphs.
Explain a situation in your life where you made a decision based on duty. Based on Pollock’s discussion of duty, was your duty an imperfect duty?
