DQ1- Even though in other countries the police do carry assault rifles and other heavy weapons as apart of their daily operations, American police officers only carry the pistol that was given to them by the department. Many people feel as though American police officers should not carry assault rifles or other heavy weapons because it goes against the ethical obligations of the police. Assault rifles and other heavy weapons are weapons that military personnel carry, which are weapons that are made to kill. Police officers should not carry these types of weapons because their primary goal should not be to kill, but rather to detain in most circumstances. According to Mitchell and Lewis (2017), evidence-based practices are acknowledged across numerous disciplines yet the moral underpinnings of ethical-based practices are best investigated comparable to ethical-based medicine. Police and doctors regularly face high-stakes choices where, unlike in teaching or social work, the advantages and damages incorporate serious injury, debilitation, or death. Both most settle on split-subsequent options in the absolute most genuinely fraught conditions, all the while considering in numerous possibilities including, for police, their physical wellbeing. Doctors are committed to “do no damage” however policing characteristically creates harms, hence they propose a moral commitment to “do no overabundance or guarantee harm” (Mithcell et al., 2017).

Reference

Mitchell, R., & Lewis, S. (2017). Intention is not method, belief is not evidence, rank is not proof. International Journal Of Emergency Services, 6(3), 188-199. doi: 10.1108/ijes-04-2017-0018.

DQ2- There is a massive disconnect between the United States criminal justice system and the community. Due to ample media sensationalizations of police brutality in the last few years, the public does not trust law enforcement. Dozens of lobbyists and social organizations have called for the demilitarization of police in order to mitigate the repercussions of police brutality. I genuinely do not believe that police ethics have anything to do with discussion of which firearms to carry. Regardless of the size or caliber of gun utilized, police officers have a responsibility to protect and serve; that ethical obligation is unaffected by the type of weapon used in daily encounters. Other countries around the word do not have such a massive buffer between its citizens and its police force; because of this, the United States simply cannot carry high caliber weapons in their daily arsenal.

DQ3- Police have an ethical obligation to protect and serve and uphold the law. Unfortunately, in doing so, officers often must use lethal force to carry out their job duties. In the United States, police involved shootings are significantly higher than those in other developed countries. In order to examine the reasons behind this, I believe it is imperative that we examine our obsession with personal gun ownership in this country and how it compares to other countries. Hemenway (2019) examined the correlation between deadly police involved shootings and how they relate to residential gun ownership. The study found that the United States has significantly higher number or police involved shooting compared to other countries. They also found that the there is a positive correlation between these shootings and the high levels of household gun ownership in the US. Their research also found that states with higher levels of gun ownership also encounter greater occurrences of officer involved shootings compared to stated with low levels of gun ownership (Henenway, Azraelm Conner, & Miller, 2019). This research defines the relationship between gun ownership and police involved shootings. Simply stated, if an officer responds to a crime and encounters a firearm they are more likely to use lethal force then if there was no firearm present.

Reference

Hemenway, D., Azrael, D., Conner, A., & Miller, M. (2019). Variation in Rates of Fatal Police Shootings across US States: the Role of Firearm Availability. Journal of Urban Health?: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 96(1), 63–73. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s11524-…

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