Ethical Dilemmas & Decisions, Ch.6 Flashcards
entrapment
when an otherwise innocent person commits an illegal act because of police encouragement or enticement
informants
civilians who are used to obtain information about criminal activity and/or participate in it so evidence can be obtained for an arrest
Dirty Harry problem
the question whether police should use immoral means to reach a desired moral end
3 questions concerning racial profiling
- What is the most effective method to identify criminals?
- What is the officer’s legal duty?
- What are the civil rights of the individual?
racial profiling
when a police officer uses a ‘profile’ as reasonable suspicion to stop a driver, primarily to request consent of search
‘accepted’ lies
lies used in undercover investigations
‘tolerated’ lies
lying about selective enforcement
‘deviant’ lies
lies used in court to make a case or cover up wrongdoing
[South] ethical issues with informants
- building a close relationship with an informant
- overestimating information
- becoming an instrument of the informant
- creating crimes by allowing the informant to entrap others
- engaging in unethical/illegal activity with informant
- allowing the informant to invade personal life
- using coercion/intimidation to get informant’s cooperation
[Skolwick & Leo] typology of deceptive interrogation techniques
- referring to questioning as interview
- mumbling Miranda warning
- misrepresenting nature of offense (leaving out victim’s death)
- using manipulative appeals to conscience
- misrepresenting moral severity of offense (victim ‘deserved’ it)
- promising lesser or no prosecution
- misrepresenting identity (posing as a lawyer or priest)
- using fabricated evidence
[Worden & Catlin] psychological traits of police officers who use excessive force
- lack of empathy
- antisocial/paranoid tendencies
- proclivity for abusive behavior
- inability to learn from experience
- tendency to not take responsibility for their actions
- cynicism
- strong identification with police subculture
