Police Discretion and the Ethics of Accepting Gratuities...

Police Discretion and the Ethics of Accepting Gratuities Police officers are often confronted with the ethical dilemma of whether or not to accept gratuities. This dilemma is an aspect of police discretion and an example of the choices that officers are forced to make. Police officers have discretion when confronted with choices such as whether or not to charge an individual, how to handle certain situations, or whether to accept a gratuity. This purpose of this article is to inform readers that police discretion not only encompasses use of force, police profiling, or domestic violence responses, but that police officers also have discretionary choices when gratuities are offered to them. Should police officers accept a gratuity,†¦show more content†¦Police officers may choose to accept a gratuity because they feel it is a way to break the monotony of the police officer/citizen relationship. By accepting gratuities, officers may feel it is a way of breaking the ice or e ven convincing citizens that officers are there to help and support the community, particularly in a jurisdiction that focuses on community policing. Therefore, police officers may want to accept gratuities because they feel it is a way of relating and communicating with community members. Goodman (1998) describes a gratuity as â€Å"something of value given to another because of that person’s status or role† (p. 6). Often, gratuities are regarded as simple gifts such as free cups of coffee or doughnuts offered while on the job. In most situations this is true but there are also other situations where gratuities can be more significant in nature including receiving discounts, annual percentages, free admissions, services, or other material inducements (Kleinig 1996: 23). One of the most common gratuities offered to police officers are free meals or meals at a discounted price. 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