Johnny and Tony Trust and Ethical Dilemma - Case Study Example

Critical Ethical Dilemmas Criticism of an ethical dilemma situation entails analyzing a situation for a conflict between the performance of a right that is in conflict with another right in accordance to the guidelines of right and wrong in a societal setting. The information provided gives the case of Johnny and Tony as police agents and there are faced with ethical dilemmas including performance of the jobs to the highest standards, use and purchase of drugs, trusting other squad members, balancing personal and job responsibility, and inability to access information to which this paper deals with in the first part. The strategies including time guidelines, training requirements for new squad members, provision of guideline for use of contingency money and work performance, developing trust and teamwork among the squad members, putting measures to show job requirements for every team member, and creating an open communication framework for officers and supervisors can be instituted by a new supervisor as control measures. Key words: Ethical dilemma, trust, job performance, training, communication, right and wrong Critical Ethical Dilemmas Ethics are the predefined concepts and ideas believed to be determine the right and wrong behavior by an individual or any member of the society. An ethical dilemma is a situation where the person’s moral imperatives that guide’s one behavior in terms of rights and wrongs come into conflict whereby obeying one of the rights leads to the transgression of another (Davis & Davis, 1997). Ethics and ethical dilemmas have a close relation through the fact that ethics result in ethical dilemmas and it is from this understanding that we critically analyze the role of ethics in ethical dilemmas. The aim of this study is to analyze critically information on the working of Johnny, Tony in terms of the decisions made in the course of the three years, and the ethical dilemmas faced in the first part of the study. The second part of the study details the measures taken by a new supervisor to ensure these types of actions from occurring in the future. Ethical dilemmas presented in the information provided There are various ethical dilemmas in the case that have to be dealt with by Johnny, Tony, the management, and other members of the squad. These dilemmas have an impact on the lives’ of the people in the case and every choice can be considered ethically right or wrong depending on the concerned party with the main reasons lying on the lack of clear cut rules and regulations guiding the operations in the squad to which Tony and Johnny are members. This is because they deal with the emotions, responsibilities, commitment, success, and development of the person (Oregon State Bar, 1990). Some of these ethical dilemmas include: The receipt of the transfer and notification period for the attendance of service where the transfer was received on Thursday for Johnny to report on Monday at his new post as a narcotics and drug agent. It is an ethical situation since adequate preparation, time, and consideration to take on a new assignment in a very short time that does not allow consideration of family responsibilities, needs, and the challenges. Johnny cannot decide to let go the promotion because it is a better job and gives new responsibilities however, it complicates his position as a family man where he does not stay with his family, does not care for the lawn, and is not responsible to his wife and children. The lack of trust between members of different squads despite the policies stating the needs for the squads to work together in solving the cases is an ethical dilemma. This is due to the lack of a developed understanding between lower cadre officers and their supervisors since the officers are not provided with support by the supervisors nor is there effort appreciated. This is evident in the case where Lieutenant Marnings does nothing and only aims at making a name for himself and not for the benefit of the squad and Harry (every other member of the squad) cannot be trusted with information that would have been beneficial in augmenting the success of the team. In the case, giving the sergeant less information than is available ensures the agent is protected reducing the ability to have teamwork through providing all information yet the agents getting information. The expectation by Johnny’s peers that he act, as a team player is an ethical situation since Johnny is trained under Tony who is known to the supervisor and the others as a non-team player. Learning from a non-team player makes Johnny susceptible to being a non-team player, hence the peers and supervisor should not complain. The inability of Johnny to work as a non-team player is a failure by the supervisor to guide the team members but it if Johnny who is blamed and he might want to be a team player but he cannot. The other ethical dilemma evident in the case is that Jonny was not provided with any information on assignment, squad, or job description when he was transferred to the new position. This gave Johnny a lack of direction and procedures on his operations in the course of duty making him susceptible to following the leads given to him by Tony despite some of these being wrong. This is an ethical situation since he is expected to live by a guideline that he has not been provided with when he starts the job in terms of the use of contingency funds, the time requirements for working and rest to provide a clear demarcation between family and work time. The other ethical dilemma in the case is Tony’s performance of duties in getting offenders in drug use, sale, and trafficking (Pollock, 2007). This is because of the need to use or pretend to participate in the drug business to be able to access informants and be in a good position to nap offenders and bring to ground organizations as demonstrated by the bust of a large amount of drugs and weapons. This is however against the law and the agents are not allowed to trade, use drugs, or use contingency money for the purchase of drugs making it an ethical issue. The other impact of this is the lack of a guide on cases resulting in lack of motivation by team members where the agents perform all the ground work and another is given the large cases developed by the agents. Measures a new supervisor can take to prevent these types of actions from occurring in the future One of the measures that a new supervisor can consider as a measure to allow the above actions not to recur is to develop measures for developing teamwork among the team members. This can be done through ensuring new squad members are trained and handled by team players as a means of developing team work in them. The other measure that can be taken by the supervisor is to provide guideline for all the officers in terms of reporting time, leaving time, holiday and weekend times for the officers, and the ability to take on other responsibilities including family and friends (McDonald & Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, 1997). This will allow the development of an all round person who takes his personal responsibilities, as a father for Johnny. This will ensure the jobs taken by the agents do not come into conflict and create family problems for them. Giving new officers a guideline on job operations and strategies to conduct and use contingency funds, the amount of force to use in arrests and getting information from the informants. This will also allow the officers to have an understanding of their jobs and allow them to have a balance between the conduct of their duties and responsibilities in an ethical and ensuring the job is done. The new supervisor has to provide clear-cut responsibilities for the officers and ensure they have enough information to carry out their duties. This will give the officers an open space to work and generate a procedure for open communication between the officers and the supervisors. This will allow the development of trust between the officers and share information to allow the squad to better their services and lead to the development of new and old members for better service delivery, time management, understanding of their responsibilities, guidance, and counseling. The other measure that can be taken by the new supervisor is the development of a guide for the use of contingency money and the use and purchase of drugs in the course of the performance of their duty. This will make the officers know the boundaries on duty performance and reduce fears when using drugs and contingency money. Creating a formula for solving cases by the agents who have been investigating the case will also allow the new supervisor has the commitment of all the agents regardless of the squad they are in due to the ability to solve their cases to completion. In conclusion, the ethical dilemmas in the information provided are receipt of the transfer information and the period provided the lack of trust between squad members, lack of information on job performance, and the expectation by the supervisors for the work to be done effectively, and the requirement to act as a team member by peers and supervisors. These conditions can be avoided and ensure Jonny, Tony, and the other squad members through the new supervisor putting in place guidance on job performance by new members of the squad, providing time schedules and off times for officers, guiding the members on taking on duties for the force as well as family responsibilities. Other measures are training new members on teamwork and providing clear-cut responsibilities for both supervisors and agents. References Davis, A. J., & Davis, A. J. (1997). Ethical dilemmas and nursing practice. Stamford, Conn: Appleton & Lange. Doka, K. J., Jennings, B., & Corr, C. A. (2005). Ethical dilemmas at the end of life. Washington, D.C: Hospice Foundation of America. McDonald, G., & Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand. (1997). Ethical dilemmas. Wellington, N.Z: Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand. Oregon State Bar. (1990). Ethical dilemmas. Lake Oswego, OR: Oregon State Bar. Pollock, J. M. (2007). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Read More