Police officers face an almost impossible task of having an impeccable record on and off duty. They face ethical dilemmas in the dispensing of their daily responsibilities ( Catlin, Dennis & Maupin, 2002, p. 496) . Police officers have the legal authority to handle official work with discretion. The above affects their ethical decision making since they have to think before acting to avoid hurting the other stakeholders. To resolve ethical issues, they are urged to report all cases of conflict for legal action rather than solving matters informally. Ethical issues, for example, the use of force to subdue a suspect, might not be acceptable. Other dilemmas like offers of gratuity are frowned upon by most officers. The discretion with which they handle these dilemmas affects not only them but their families and the entire police force. Trust between officers and those they serve is paramount. For an officer, a decision involving discretion has to be made with an entire community in mind. This way, the community will be impacted positively since decisions are made while having in mind the importance of ensuring the welfare of the community takes center stage. The criminal justice system is another entity that requires discretion. Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys have different responsibilities to ensure the ethical integrity of a courthouse (Howell , 2014, p. 289) . One of the ethical issues judges face is work allocation, which is allocating each case equal attention regardless of how trivial it is. Another problem is a conflict of obligations, which is regarding applying the law both impartially and with justice. For prosecutors, they have a myriad of ethical issues, two of which are overcharging of criminal defendants and the handing out of plea deals and immunity. These issues may be faced due to a personal conviction that the defendant is guilty of the crime. For defense attorneys, the conflict between the principle of disclosure and confidentiality, is an ethical issue ( Kuhn, 2017, p.356). An attorney would have confidential information that a client intends to commit a crime or participated in one. Confessing the truth would a breach of attorney-client privilege. Another dilemma they face is choosing between being upholders of the law and being the most active advocate for their client. Lawyers are legal officers supposed to hold the integrity of the law. Discretion could increase ethical dilemmas for the above stakeholders since, to some extent, it gives them autonomy in their undertakings. If they are not decisive enough, they could encounter related ethical dilemmas. Crises in the corridors of justice need a review of all judicial laws. Furthermore, there is a need to have more clerks in Judges' offices to reduce the workload ( Howell, 2014, p. 294) . Additionally, there needs to do a review of laws on prosecutorial & lawyer misconduct. This reform prevents the imprisonment of the innocent and the freeing of the guilty, hence, directly or indirectly reducing ethical dilemmas faced by the individuals mentioned. Correctional officers are in charge of inmates in correctional facilities. They take care of the inmates in their different professional capacities. Some of the officers include correctional counselors and correctional treatment specialist. The structure of prison life can easily lead an excellent correctional officer astray. Some of the ethical dilemmas faced by correctional counselors and treatment specialists are impartiality when dealing with prison inmates, especially serial offenders. Another is the confidentiality of the inmate's health records. This deficiency is because an inmate may not be accorded the same physician-patient privilege as a free person. For the above personnel, discretion is likely to influence them to act professionally by adhering to work-related ethics and values ( Parent, Richard & Parent, 2018, 16) . The chances of ethical dilemmas, hence, will be reduced in this case. To mitigate the ethical dilemmas, these individuals should ensure they act according to the law and that they uphold the values of the institutions they serve.
References
Catlin, D. W., & Maupin, J. R. (2002). Ethical orientations of state police recruits and one-year experienced officers. Journal of Criminal Justice , 30 (6), 491-498.
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Howell, K. B. (2014). Prosecutorial Discretion and the Duty to Seek Justice in an Overburdened Criminal Justice System. Geo. J. Legal Ethics , 27 , 285.
Kuhn, R. D. (2017). Disclosure Versus Confidentiality. The Catholic Lawyer , 29 (4), 4.
Parent, R., & Parent, C. (2018). Ethics and Canadian law enforcement . Canadian Scholars’ Press.
