Week 5 Discussion: Law Enforcement

Supporting Lectures:

• Ethical Systems
• Crime Control
• Discretion and Law Enforcement
• Discretion and Corruption

The discussion assignment provides a forum for discussing relevant topics for this week on the basis of the course competencies covered.

In this final week, we will apply the concepts reviewed in this course to the law enforcement function. For this week’s discussion, consider the following questions, with the ethical systems in mind.

• Is it ethical for detectives to deliberately use deception during an interrogation? The Supreme Court has ruled that deceptions are legal, but are they ethical? If so, identify under which ethical system police would be permitted to use deception as an interrogation technique.
• All police agencies make use of informants. Larger departments even pay their informants and keep track of their contributions to cases. Discuss the ethical problems of using informants to assist with investigations.
• You have read about a concept known as “accepted lies” in police work. Give an example of an “accepted lie” and show how it is ethically permissible.