Professional Workplace Dilemma - Essay Example

Johnson; the cashier identified my local police department badge and concluded that we were police officers. She could not have known our identities if it were not for the badge since we were dressed in civilian clothes. The cashier, Ms. Swansea, told me that I did not have to pay because I was from the local police department. This was a difficult situation because the courtesy would have meant money in my pocket, but due to the police department code of ethics for all personnel, I could not accept the gratuity.

I paid the waitress the total amount for the food in a tip so that I would not be breaking company policy regarding gratuity and I did not want to offend the cashier. Analysis of the dilemma This scenario challenged my virtues as a human being and my loyalty to the Ethics that govern the operations of the law enforcement officers. There was a distinct difference between me as a law enforcement officer and the cashier. As a law enforcement officer, I am endowed with powers and authority that come with holding such an office.

Such powers can only be necessary in circumstances that the law allows. For instance, as a law enforcement officer, I have the power to interrogate and interview suspects in connection to their alleged crimes (Clark, 1970). I have powers and authority to use legal means to make suspects confess their crimes in order to advance the promotion of Justice to victims of the alleged crime, for instance, applying detention laws to confine suspects in accordance to the law. On the other hand, the cashier has no authority and power in comparison with the law enforcement officers.

The cashier, Ms. Swansea, is an employee with the duty of serving clients and receiving cash from them. She has no authority outside her cafe. The ethics in question are: As a law enforcement officer, it is my duty to serve the community and to protect lives and property of innocent people against dishonest acts, and protect the weak against oppression and/or intimidation (Scheb and Scheb, 2011). In the above scenario, the nature of the office I held intimidated the cashier who, thus, offered me the free meal.

It is my responsibility as a law enforcement officer to protect the weak against intimidation, and Ms. Swansea as well. If I had accepted the offer, I would have gone against the codes of conduct and ethics that guide law enforcement officers. As law enforcement officers, it is our duty not to permit personal prejudices, personal feelings and political beliefs to influence our decisions and never to accept gratuities due to the office I am holding (H.M.S.O, 1985). Ms. Swansea offered a gratuity to me in the form of not paying for the meal.

Had I accepted the offer, I would have betrayed the law enforcement officer’s code of conducts. As law enforcement officers, it is our duty to take the badge of the office as a symbol of faith from the public. It is a public trust that law enforcement officers hold (Scheb and Scheb, 2011). Thus, it is unacceptable for police officers to accept bribes or engage in corruption due to the opportunities that the office they hold presents. In this case, had I