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DQ2_ethical behavior in criminal justice

DQ2_ethical behavior in criminal justice

Q Police officers and other criminal justice professionals are afforded a significant amount of discretion when performing their duties. For example, many officers have the ability to independently determine whether they should pursue or ignore minor violations. Unfortunately, this comes at a price. When individuals have discretion, prejudices and negative perceptions of groups or individuals can influence their decision making. 1) Discuss the extent to which personal prejudices could negatively influence criminal justice professionals' decision making processes. 2) Is it ever right for a law enforcement officer to allow his or her decision to be based (in whole or in part) upon his or her personal prejudices or negative perceptions of groups or individuals? 3) What steps could criminal justice leaders take to limit the extent to which discretion can be utilized inappropriately?

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It would not be right to say that every police person is completely free from any type of prejudices. Every human being in the world has atleast a bit of prejudice hidden inside which may be an obstacle in the way of serving justice. Justice is a very crucial and tricky thing and any kind of prejudice can make the decisions biased. There are many stereotypes in the society which can be related with prejudice and making an individual taking biased decisions. If a law enforcement officer gets driven by prejudice then he might be unable to judge from a neutral perspective.