Police Ethics-Chapter 10, Judgment Calls

Question 1

“A good referee should try to be invisible whenever possible. He shouldn’t control or even be a part of the game, if it isn’t absolutely necessary. He should just let’em play football.”

Answer 1

John Madden, football coach

Question 2

perhaps the most cogent truism about police work is that its is all about

Answer 2

common sense

Question 3

Aside from when laws conflict, sometimes they are vague and therefore difficult to understand.

Answer 3

Vagueness

Question 4

A basic principle of what scholars label the ___ is that for a criminal statute to carry moral authority it must be specific. It must be understandable by the average person.

Answer 4

morality of law

Question 5

By being written in a way that encompasses too large a number of citizens, laws can be thus criticized.

Answer 5

overbreadth

Question 6

___penal codes sections are considered to be catch-alls. They provide the police with too much power

Answer 6

overly broad

Question 7

Police like to have an edge or leverage when dealing with citizens

Answer 7

lever

Question 8

The Chicago Ani-gang statue

Answer 8

1990s, city council of Chicago passed an ordiance making it a crime for three or more people to stand in the street with no apparent purpose. On grounds that it was “vague and overly broad” and gave unlimited discretion to police, US Supreme Crt declared the ordinance unconstitutional.

Question 9

a classical liberal , who gave us the idea of natural rights and limited government, is who

Answer 9

John Locke- said individuals should almost always be left alone to live their own lives without interference from state or government

Question 10

a classical conservative, who led the opposition to Locke’s ideas in England 300 yrs ago, who said that people cannot be trusted with their own decisions.

Answer 10

Edmund Burke….he called for stronger government, tight laws and increased police powers.

Question 11

John Stuart Mill famous essay suggesting a formula for how power belonged in whose hands.

Answer 11

On Liberty

Question 12

Mill said the Individuals should only be amenable to society for that conduct which directly harms another

Answer 12

harm principle. important for officer to remember

Question 13

harm principle is important because

Answer 13

provided a good yardstick for making judgement calls.

Question 14

Crimes for which there are no specific, individual complainants

Answer 14

victimless crimes

Question 15

The characteristics of victimless crimes

Answer 15

1. consenting participants on both sides..prostitutes, johns, gambling partners
2. ongoing demand for goods/services that are provided.
3. significant amounts of official corruption due to high profits and absence of witnesses/complaining parties when officials interact with criminals.

Question 16

who wrote the policemans art

Answer 16

Bruce Smith.

Question 17

More than 50 yrs ago, a sociologist suggested that police work was something between a blue-collar type of trade and a white-collar profession

Answer 17

Jerome Skolnick

Question 18

who was the first to talk about how the potential of violence colored the police perception of the street.

Answer 18

Skolnick

Question 19

classical conservatism

Answer 19

school of thought that was created as a reaction to liberalism; suggested that people were greedy, self centered, and driven by evil impulses and thus they need to be controlled by powerful gov agencies

Question 20

classical liberalism

Answer 20

school of thought created during the Age of Enlightenment; suggested that society’s political, economic, social and legal institutions be organized along the lines of a meritocracy, as opposed to the aristocratic tradition that proceeded it

Question 21

ethical dilemma

Answer 21

situation wherein a choice must be made between competing coureses of action, eachof which is ehtically defensible.

Question 22

habeas corpus

Answer 22

latin for “bring forth the body” (of evidenct); Anglo American legal principle that citizens must be charged wiht a specific crime or else let free

Question 23

harm prinicple

Answer 23

by Mill, suggest that individual citizens is only amenable to society for that conduct which directly harms interests of others

Question 24

John Locke

Answer 24

one of the fathers of Western or English liberalism; wrote on ideas of meritocracy, individual rights, equal opportunity and polictical organizations

Question 25

morality of law

Answer 25

principle relating to the specific requirements that are endemic to any morally defensible legal system, such as the requirement to have publicized laws

Question 26

overbreadth

Answer 26

legal concept having to do with laws that are not narrowly focused enough and give police to much power

Question 27

Prohibition

Answer 27

attempts in US between 1920 and 1933 to prohibit the distillation, distribution and possession of alcohol. , led to the creation of organized crimes,due to the financial boon which illegal alcohol sale provided.

Question 28

vagueness

Answer 28

legal concept having to do with laws that are not specific enough to be fair when administered on street

Question 29

victimless crimes

Answer 29

crimes wherein no particular, individual citizen is victimized, such as drug use and sales, prostitution, gambling and poss of porn

Question 30

Criminal ethicist who attempted to help the individual decision maker (police officers) with such ethical dilemmas.

Answer 30

Joycelyn Pollock, “Ethics in Crime and Justice”, 3rd edition.

Question 31

Pollocks analytical steps to clarifying ethical dilemmas.

Answer 31

1. review all facts- what is known
2. identify all potential values of each party thats relevant- life,law, family and self preservation
3. identify all possible moral issues for each party
4. decide what is most immediate moral or ethical issue facing each individual
5. resolve ethical dilemma. Make an ethical judgment based on appropriate ethical system (our ethic to live by) and supported by moral rules (one must follow the law)