Description of an Ethical Issue
Business environments often involve instances whereby stakeholders such as employees, managers, customers, and suppliers, among others, have to make decisions. In some of these situations, moral conflict arises and must be addressed, and this amounts to an ethical issue ( Miller, 2013 ). An ethical issue thus is an occasion where a moral standard is questioned. For an ethical issue to be present, a given decision, scenario, or activity must trigger conflict within a society's moral fabric. Ethical issues, especially those that involve institutions, are legally precarious because some of the available resolutions can breach a given law ( Miller, 2013 ). Scenarios that contravene available moral standards can be challenging to solve, especially when there are no guidelines or precedents known. It is essential that businesses strictly enforce ethical standards since they provide a framework that guides stakeholders' decision making processes.
An Ethical Issue in the Public Safety
Description of the Incidence
In November 2017, an Abbotsford police officer was recorded stuffing money in his sock during an operation in a drug raid. The incident spurred an investigation into the potential misconduct by the said officer. Abbotsford Police Department (APD) drug squad was conducting a search warrant on a home of a suspected drug dealer. The APD officers found weapons, drugs, and over $45,000 in cash in the said home. The suspect, Brian MacDonald, was charged, and during the trial, his defense team played several clips of the arrest. It is in one of the video clips that an APD officer was seen alone in a room with the cash whereby he was handling it suspiciously. The officer testified in court that he did stash money in his sock, but it was a prank. APD spokesperson Sgt. Judy Bird said that the officer returned the money ( Little & Daly , 2018 ). The spokesperson, however, admitted that the officer’s behavior was unbecoming regardless of the intention.
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Stakeholders and their Expected Behavior
The Abbotsford case has several stakeholders who had crucial roles in determining if the officer’s actions amounted to an ethical issue. First, the officer himself is at the center of the moral issue because he was filmed filling his sock with money, which was a part of the exhibit. The officer ought to have adhered to the police code of conduct that requires officers to handle investigations professionally. Second, MacDonald’s defense team acted as required by raising concerns over the behavior of the team that raided their client's home. Thus, the defense team served as a whistleblower with the hope of discrediting the evidence tabled by the prosecution team. Third, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) featured in this case as investigators into possible ethical and criminal misdoings. RCMP was to provide the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) and the Abbotsford Police Board (APB) with facts for further disciplinary action ( Little & Daly , 2018 ).
Perspective of Authorities
After the video evidence of the actions by the police officer, the APD spokesperson Sgt. Bird admitted that the incident breached the available codes of conduct. Sgt. Bird stated that the officer in question crossed the line, which means that the behavior was ethically unsound. However, the BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) later announced that the evidence available did not meet the assessment standards for criminal charges ( Hopes, 2018 ). The information by BCPS borrowed from facts established by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSE) that stated that the evidence was not complete.
Ethical Concerns in the Case
The two ethical concerns that are present in this case entail breaching the principle of safeguarding public trust and the guiding value of integrity. First, the officer eroded public trust through his actions. The officer was recorded filling his socks with money from possible criminal activities during a raid on a suspect's premises. The code of conduct of BC police requires that officers at all times uphold the duty of preserving the trust the people have in the police service (“ Justice Institute of British Columbia” ). The police are mandated to strive for excellence, which includes the exercise of professional discretion in a manner that is consistent with the available principles and guiding values.
After the videos were made public, there was an expected dip in the trust accorded the police by the public courtesy of the officer's actions. The ethical issue is that irrespective of the officer’s motivations, he chose to compromise the much needed public trust. The second moral concern that is evident in this case regards the officer failing to uphold individual integrity. According to the code of conduct for BC police service, honesty is a fundamental guiding value that each officer must exercise (“ Justice Institute of British Columbia” ). The police are expected to act responsibly towards all parties they come into contact with within their line of duty. Integrality required the office to weigh the outcome of the decision to hide money in his sock. Due to the lack of integrity on his part, the officer triggered an unnecessary controversy directed to the entire police force.
A Broad Perspective of the Ethical Issue in the Case
The primary ethical concern, in this case, regarded the police officer stuffing money from a scene of a crime in his sock. In its entirety, the behavior of the officer was unethical since they are guidelines and principles that should have influenced his actions. Stuffing money amounted to interfering with evidence, which could have affected the case. Assuming that the jury decided to focus on the impact of his actions, the evidence could have been rendered inadmissible, thus disrupting justice. The world over, the standard practice requires police to handle evidence with utmost care to aid the courts and prosecution teams to have a strong basis for judgment. With the precedent set by this case, the public will doubt the ability of police to remain objective in future cases. Mishandling evidence from a crime scene can help criminals win cases that could have been against them. Nevertheless, investigators concluded that the police officer did not have a case to answer and thus was not prosecuted. From the perspective of the public, it appears that investigators conspired to save one of them and save the police service public humiliation.
Personal Reflection: Unclear Aspects of the Case
After the video was made public, the officer said that he was joking by stuffing money in the sock. Investigations into the conduct were conducted, but the investigators did not find the officer guilty. Thus, he was not arraigned in court over the same. However, one thing remains unclear. The OPCC and APB did not explain the disciplinary actions taken against the officer due to the inappropriateness of his actions ( Little & Daly , 2018 ). The incident directly threatened the integrity and public trust that the Abbotsford enjoys. It would be essential to know what actions were taken against the officer for breaching investigation standards. Gaining clarity in this matter would require one to liaise with APB to understand what internal steps were taken against the officer. This would need the APB to explain the available disciplinary framework or mechanisms that APB uses to discipline its errant officers. However, this endeavor could be faced by one uncertainty. The police bosses might be reluctant to provide internal operations to the public to maintain secrecy. I would address this by assuring the APB seniors of objectivity and confidentiality in handling the information. Objectivity would help in preempting biases in reporting and using the data while secrecy will help in maintaining discretion when referring to my sources. With this approach, I would be able to avoid sensationalist reporting and misrepresentation of facts.
References
Hopes, V. (2018). No charges against cop accused of stuffing money into sock during the search - Abbotsford News . Abbotsford News. Retrieved 10 March 2020, from www.abbynews.com/news/no-charges-against-cop-accused-of-stuffing-money-into-sock-during-search/.
Justice Institute of British Columbia. The British Columbia Police Code Of Ethics [Ebook] (1st ed.). Retrieved 10 March 2020, from www.jibc.ca/sites/default/files/police_justice/pdf/JIBC_signing_final_web.pdf.
Little, S. & Daly , j. (2018). Abbotsford cop who stuffed cash in a sock during drug raid says it was a 'joke .' CKNW. Retrieved 10 March 2020, from globalnews.ca/news/4173352/abbotsford-cop-cash-in-sock/.
Miller, S. (2013). Police ethics. International Encyclopedia of Ethics , 1-8.
