Module 4

News Article

Officer shows 'great restraint' not shooting charging suspect, chief says

The Ethical Connection

If you follow the above link it takes you to an article reported by CNN that explains the decision a police officer made in the line of duty. With all of the controversy surrounding police shootings and whether or not they are justifiable, the family of Officer Jesse Kidder purchased a body camera for him to use while on the job (McLaughlin, 2015). According to McLaughlin (2015), "The officer gets out of his car, his gun trained on a suspect who had allegedly killed his fiancee and best friend before leading police on a multicounty chase through Kentucky and Ohio." The suspect approached the officer with his hands in his pockets stating, "Shoot me, or I'll shoot you" (McLaughlin, 2015). The officer was faced with a decision. He was unaware of the consequences of his decision not to fire his weapon, but hoped for the best. According to Rosenstand (2013), "We have to make an educated guess and hope for the best, act, and wait to see the results" (p. 240). Luckily the suspect did not have a weapon and the incident ended without any fatalities. Office Kidder made the decision to not open fire in hopes of the consequences not ending in injuries or worse, death. Rosenstand (2013) states, "The true value of our action is not clear until the consequences are clear" (p. 240). It wasn't until everything was over that Officer Kidder realized he made the right decision.

                                                                       References

McLaughlin, E. C. (2015, April 19). Suspect charges New Richmond cop, who doesn't shoot. Cable News Network. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/19/us/ohio-new-richmond-officer-does-not-shoot-suspect/index.html

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The moral of the story: An introduction to ethics (7th ed.). New 
          York, NY: McGraw-Hill.