Given his “rookie” position and the way he conveyed his thoughts about the inappropriate actions of his partner; you can only infer that he doesn’t have the knowledge and ability to make the right ethical decision. Tommy faced a few barriers as a newly hired police officer while trying to make the right verdicts in his situation. When Tommy tried to go to his lieutenant about the incident, he was not supported and therefore more implications arose for him to try to make the right decision. He acknowledges the inappropriateness of the incident but is not supported by his department, and chain of command. As a newly hired cop, he lacked the aggression to report the incident and failed to create change. While I can empathize with the decision Tommy made in response to his ethical dilemma. Conversely, it is not a representation of social work values. It’s his responsibility as a colleague and a police officer in that profession to bring awareness to his partner’s inappropriate behavior and misrepresentation of the police department. Tommy could have spoken with his partner about his behaviors and he also could have reached out to other officers for possible support. As a police officer, he could have been more aggressive when trying to report his partner to the lieutenant. More courage in standing up for what he knew was wrong could have aided him in this situation as well. If …show more content…
Being in his shoes I would have spoken to my partner and pursued other means to bring awareness to him if my lieutenant would not acknowledge me. Two of the characteristics instilled in me throughout my life has been integrity and courage. Through many life experiences, I have learned that you can’t go wrong if you apply those two ideals in life, relationships, and employment. Sometimes you may end up changing policies and creating change within an organization if you report inappropriate behaviors that are unethical and harm the reputation of the organization. Especially, within environments that serve and protect the people. For example, when I first arrived at my military unit, a higher ranking male verbally sexually harassed me. He eventually attained my personal phone number from the records and harassed me via phone. At first, I didn’t know how to handle the situation given that he was a higher ranking soldier and I was a new female private. I didn’t want to be seen as different or get repercussions if I filed a report. After consulting with a few other soldiers in my unit I decided to proceed with making the report. Thankfully, unlike Tommy, my chain of command supported me as I made the allegations. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one, and other females came forward after I reported him. I have never regretted what I did even if I was afraid to act on it