Working in the criminal justice system, every decision requires balancing concerns such as prosecuting theguilty, respecting the rights of the accused, protecting victims, and creating a safe community.In this scenario, you are a police detective, and, along with your partner, you handle the majority ofhomicide cases in your town. A woman in your city was seen walking alone at night and was later foundbrutally raped, beaten and left for dead. She is now in a coma.Earlier that evening, a gang of young men was seen in the area, assaulting and threatening passersby.The responding officers picked up two members of the gang, 14 years of age, near the location of the crimeafter they fled questioning by the police. Your partner has just finished interviewing both of the suspects inseparate interrogation rooms. Both youths have records for robbery and assault. While entitled to havingtheir parents present, no significant effort was made to find them. While it is department policy to videotapeimportant interviews, your partner did not tape either interview. Your partner comes to your desk and tellsyou that they both have confessed to the attack. When you ask your partner about the missing parents andthe lack of videotape, he says, "don't worry about it. They are both guilty as sin. We can close the case."You are fairly certain that your partner probably crossed the line on his interview, which is why heconducted the interview alone. However, you are convinced that they are both guilty. What are you going todo?The criminal investigation has been underway for several months and has received a great deal of publicity.The case has risen to national prominence as an example of how today's youth no longer respectsfundamental social values, television and video game violence has desensitized young men to theconsequences of crimes such as assault and rape, and as a demonstration of the inability of the police tokeep the streets safe for law-abiding citizens. A conviction will certainly vindicate the police and districtattorney's office handling of the crime. The victim still lies in a coma...
What would you do:
- challenge partner about what happened in interview room
- report it to a supervisor
- report it to newspaper
- report it to DA
- complete paperwork documenting confessions?
Choose one of the available choices and write a two (2) page Word Document (.docx) outlining the rationale for your answer. You should include principles that you have learned so far in this course. Be sure to provide adequate information to support your answer.