1
ETHICAL DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING IN POLICING
Student’s Name
Department, Institutional Affiliation
Subject
Professor’s Name
Date
, 2
Ethical Decision making and Problem-solving
(1) As a police officer, describe how important is it to support community problem-
solving and broken windows policing by applying problem-solving techniques?
The police force is tasked with maintaining law and order in a community.
Lawlessness as well as lack of order contributes to the development and growth of crime in a
particular area. It’s therefore the responsibility of the police officers to ensure law and order
are observed. Community problem-solving presents a unique platform for officers to
understand a community, its inhabitants, the possible criminals, or other sources of problems
and to find a solution to fix the identified issues (Bichler & Gaines, 2005). Community
problem-solving not only involves officers working on themselves to sort out the problems
but also with the local inhabitant to find a lasting resolution to the most prevalent issues in the
location (Bichler & Gaines, 2005).
The broken windows policing highlights the importance of recognizing a crime before
it happens by noting earlier signs of trouble to come in the future (Welsh, Braga & Bruinsma,
2015). Serious crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery among others usually stem from a
lengthy chain of events usually developing from small uncontrolled acts of lawlessness over
time (Welsh et al., 2015). For example, a group of boys may start by breaking houses or cars'
windows early on. If the habit is not realized and stopped it might develop further to include
more serious crimes and eventually result in robberies, murder, or others. As a police officer,
it’s important to understand the significance of recognizing crime early on and handling it
before it gets out of hand by employing the problem-solving technique. Applying the SARA
Model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment), an officer can identify an issue in the
ETHICAL DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING IN POLICING
Student’s Name
Department, Institutional Affiliation
Subject
Professor’s Name
Date
, 2
Ethical Decision making and Problem-solving
(1) As a police officer, describe how important is it to support community problem-
solving and broken windows policing by applying problem-solving techniques?
The police force is tasked with maintaining law and order in a community.
Lawlessness as well as lack of order contributes to the development and growth of crime in a
particular area. It’s therefore the responsibility of the police officers to ensure law and order
are observed. Community problem-solving presents a unique platform for officers to
understand a community, its inhabitants, the possible criminals, or other sources of problems
and to find a solution to fix the identified issues (Bichler & Gaines, 2005). Community
problem-solving not only involves officers working on themselves to sort out the problems
but also with the local inhabitant to find a lasting resolution to the most prevalent issues in the
location (Bichler & Gaines, 2005).
The broken windows policing highlights the importance of recognizing a crime before
it happens by noting earlier signs of trouble to come in the future (Welsh, Braga & Bruinsma,
2015). Serious crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery among others usually stem from a
lengthy chain of events usually developing from small uncontrolled acts of lawlessness over
time (Welsh et al., 2015). For example, a group of boys may start by breaking houses or cars'
windows early on. If the habit is not realized and stopped it might develop further to include
more serious crimes and eventually result in robberies, murder, or others. As a police officer,
it’s important to understand the significance of recognizing crime early on and handling it
before it gets out of hand by employing the problem-solving technique. Applying the SARA
Model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment), an officer can identify an issue in the
