When a crime occurs officers are required to investigate and find out what had occurred. Police have ethical rules to follow when maintaining the law. Investigators are also required to follow ethical rules when working on a case. Ethical issues can be a problem when it concerns taking statements from people, and properly completing the job.
One case that is an example of ethical issues during investigation is a case that occurred in 2008. A business owner named Troy had his business in Minnesota. An individual named Jeremy had a construction business, and was the Deputy Sherriff of the same county as the Troy the other business owner” .
An acquaintance of Jeremy had committed fraud against Troy concerning his business. Jeremey was the investigator who was working on the fraud case. This causes ethical problems in the case. The reason is that Jeremy is a Deputy Sherriff and a friend to the accused. Jeremy is also investigating the case of the fraud that his friend had committed towards Troy.
The ethical issues regarding this case is the fact that the deputy sheriff is the investigator of the fraud case of whom he is friends with. This would be conflict of interest in regards to the Deputy investigating the case. The case should have been handed over to another investigator, or Jeremy should have spoken up and mentioned his acquaintance with the accused. The Deputy cannot be biases due to being friends with the accused. It would be hard for him to put his personal opinions aside and analyze and research the case effectively.
The ethics in law enforcement, and investigation are put in place to protect the accused, the victims, and the investigators. The ethics are for protection, and to ensure everyone gets treated fairly, and accurately to the highest regard of the law. Jeremy did not do that when he knowingly took over the investigation regarding his friend, and did not mention anything about knowing him before the investigation began.
Reference
Jensen, J. (2010). Asst. County Attorney Gary ReMine Recorded Engaging in Unethical Behavior. You Tube.
