Prison officials may often be tempted to use statistical data that favors their agency while presenting issues to their budgeting sources. The aim of having corrections agencies is to ensure that errant individuals are appropriately corrected. Thus prison officials may tend to utilize the data that shows their agencies as performing well to get facilitation from their budgeting sources. Additionally, numerous studies into working among the prison officials indicate that they observe a "blue code" of silence, which further sheds light on the likelihood of a prison official giving statistical data that is favorable on his agency (“ Ethics and the Present Criminal Justice System”, 2009). As in any other profession, the prison officials are bound by a code of conduct which they need to adhere to provide the appropriate services. To begin with, as law enforcement agents, prison officials ought to behave honestly and with a complete sense of integrity at all times. Therefore, in this scenario, they ought to be honest and truthful while presenting issues to their budgeting sources. If they do not portray honesty and integrity, they will show no significant difference with the errant individuals whom they seek to assist in correcting and preparing for reintegration into the community (“ Ethics and the Present Criminal Justice System”, 2009). Also, prison officials ought to adhere to ethical conduct regarding services and considerations. In considerations, prison officials should not only offer correctional services but also foster professionalism in their conduct such that they report corruption as well as unethical behavior to the appropriate authorities ( Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). In service, prison officials have a duty to protect the public and respect all disciplines within the criminal justice system while ensuring they provide the correct information. In addition to observing a set of ethical considerations in this case, the prison official is also being loyal to advance the survival of his agency. It is worth noting that most of the law enforcement branches are paramilitary with a formal rank structure in addition to having traits of a civilian organization. A notable characteristic of the military environment is loyalty as well as camaraderie. As such, members of the military are expected to show loyalty to other agency members and the system of the rank structure in addition to loyalty for the values that the agency possesses ( Neubauer & Fradella, 2018) . Therefore, the prison official in the case would seek to advance the survival of his agency even at the expense of observing morality. However, while the prison official ought to observe loyalty, especially towards his agency, there is a need to determine when there are violations of rules and inform the relevant authorities accordingly. As such, they should be driven by such ethics and morality in deciding whether their actions are compliant with the law as well as ensuring that they can morally and legally justify every choice that they make to achieve the various outcomes. Observing ethics while avoiding being blindly loyal makes it possible for such a prison official to consider how the decision, of using the statistical data that is favorable to his agency while presenting issues to the budgeting source, will affect others who are involved in the criminal justice system as well as the general public who depend on the prison officials. Therefore, the bottom line in this scenario is making a decision of whether the decision undermines the legal and ethical principles of the prison official's duty.
References
Ethics and the Present Criminal Justice System. (2009). Ethics for Criminal Justice Professionals , 165-180. doi:10.1201/b15796-10
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Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2018). America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
