Police Ethical Dilemmas

Ethical issues are present in different aspects of our everyday life, through various ways such as conflicts in the workplace, social, or cultural issues we might face. Some ethical issues can be easy to find a solution because we have set religious, moral and cultural values instilled in us from a very early age. Therefore, makes solving ethical issues instinct or intuitive based on our values. Yet, some ethical issues can be perplexed issues, due to many factors that play like we will see in the problem excerpt below. The right solution is not as intuitive, requiring analyzing, weighing in on the benefits, disadvantages and most importantly considering our own values in making a decision.
In the ethics problem below, a chief of police encounters
a problem:
“There is a crazy man who has hidden several bombs with timers set to go off in an hour in highly populated areas in your city.
He is arrested; but will not tell anyone where the bombs are hidden, or how to deactivate them. The police chief thinks that the interrogators should use torture to get him to talk. It is illegal to torture people, but this is a very desperate situation. The police chief is convinced that this is the right thing to do in order to protect the lives of hundreds of people.” (TRACS)
The chief of police is in tough position because he is conflicted with following the principle of not torturing the criminal because torture is considered wrong and illegal, morally and socially. Though not following the principle can also save the lives of innocent people. Instead of harming a lot of people, only the criminal will be harmed. This situation as you can see can be followed by the utilitarianism or deontology ethics. Both are similar in that they are concerned in defining what is wrong and right, but have different moral
guidelines.
In Deontology, the theory of philosopher Kant states we are morally committed to follow certain set of moral principles no matter the outcome. The moral principles derive from divine commandment so in deontology we are morally obligated to certain principles such as not to steal, lie, cheat, or torture. Deontology also focuses on the intentions and motives of a person rather than the outcome of a situation. The theory bases righteous of an action on adherence to rules, therefore if the chief of police chooses the right thing to do in the situation is to not torture the man, because it is a set principle he is following the deontology theory.
In Utilitarianism, a theory based on 19th-century English philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill theory focuses the best action is the one that maximizes utility.
"Utility" is defined in various ways, usually in terms of the well-being in animals or human beings. It also focuses on the consequences rather than the motives that the deontology theory does. “According to Mill, acts should be classified as morally right or wrong only if the consequences are of such significance that a person would wish to see the agent compelled, not merely persuaded and exhorted, to act in the preferred manner.” (West) If the chief of police chooses the right thing to do is to torture the man to get him to talk where the bombs are, to stop them and save the lives of innocent people he is following the utilitarianism theory, the greatest good for the greatest amount of
people.
In the ethical issue, the chief of police encounters, I would agree with the theory of utilitarianism, because I personally believe the most happiness for the greatest number of people is morally right. Everything we do, we use utilitarianism to maximize total well-being as people and increase our happiness. Utilitarianism does not state any rule is intrinsically right or wrong, it based on the consequences an action will cause. When deciding, I look at the consequences my actions will affect. I find deontology to be stifling because it only focuses on the motives and not the consequences. Example, when the conflict of telling the truth, because you know it is right, but the consequence can be hurting someone else’s feelings and might jeopardize a friendship. I feel like you should weigh what’s more important and sometimes it is better to lie for the other person’s good.