Interview of a Criminal Justice Professional One of the purposes of studying ethics is to gain the ability to make ethical decisions. As a criminal justice practitioner, analyzing and evaluating an agency's ethical policies, procedures, and practices is necessary for understanding the development of ethical decision-making within the organization. I interviewed Lieutenant Ryan Phillips at Wise County Sheriff’s Office to accomplish this. Lt. Phillips is a shift supervisor in the Patrol Division and a member of the Sheriff’s Response Team with eight years of experience in this capacity and a total of 14 years of experience in law enforcement. First, it is necessary to understand the ethical policies in place within the agency. So, I asked …show more content…
Otherwise, it will be challenging to achieve a common goal. If an agency or department cannot be trusted, barriers are created that will delay or prohibit the desired outcome.
The last question I asked was, “Is it important for officers to be ethical in their personal life as well as professionally? Explain.” Lt. Phillips answered, “Yes, because an officer cannot expect others to do what he/she does not do personally” (R. Phillips, personal communication, June 20, 2023).
Ethics is an essential part of criminal justice, and even though it has only been a focus for the last few years, it has always been significant. In light of the bad press over the last decade or so, ethics have been pushed to the forefront of law enforcement. Ethics are now taught in basic academies, in-service, and criminal justice curricula in higher education classes. As with my department, many departments have lengthened the field training program to give training supervisors more time with recruits. This process allows the FTO supervisor more time to review and evaluate recruits and hopefully identify and correct potentially problematic behavior before it starts. I believe we have made significant strides in ethical behavior amongst law enforcement. However, I also feel that continued education, zero-tolerance policies, and strict hiring practices must also be continued in order to build back the trust that has been