Ethical Consideration

Ethical Consideration...

Within this stage of the investigation ethics need to be considered. This stage revolves mainly around the media and how certain aspects from the media can influence the case. The media coverage of the investigation will be dependent upon how high profile the case is, if the case is high profile the media will swarm the investigation. Whereas if the case isn't really relevant, will have a low impact upon the community and low profile then there won’t be as much media attention to this crime. Within certain investigations the police will allow for victims to interact with the media this can allow for any suspects or key witnesses to come forward. However if that’s the case ethics need to be considered, whether it is right for a victim of a horrendous crime should go through the pain of talking publicly about it. For example a kidnapping case, is it right for the police to make the parents talk to the media whilst in the shock and pain there going through?

Using this tactic can be beneficial however it can also have the reverse effect upon the case, if the crime was personal and the criminal see's the video footage of the victims speaking about the pain they are going through this may influence the suspect to carry on with their actions as they are getting what they want. However it can also make the criminal feel guilty and remorseful of their actions and come forward to the police and admit what they have done.

Police can also use this technique to assess whether the victim is being truthful or lying about certain pieces of the crime. For example within the case of Shannon Matthews disappearance the police placed the mother and stepfather in front of cameras to see how they would react, and looking at the footage it is very clear that they are acting in a very tearful and upset way however it is obvious that it was all fake due to the way they were acting.

Ethical Consideration within the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman…

The media played a big role within the murder trial, due to the fact the leading suspect was OJ Simpson the media was covering everything. At the time of the incident OJ was a famous American football player who was respected in all ethnicities across the US therefore this case was very high profile. Before the response team got to the crime scene the information that the murders had occurred leaked to the media and they arrived very early on. This allowed for disturbing images of both bodies to be taken and still today can be viewed. The police should have done more to remove these pictures from the media before flashing it across America. Nicole and Ronald did not have a say on whether them images could be published and the way the bodies were positioned and the brutal state they were in they should have not been published. This caused a lot of grieve for both families and played a big role in the Ethical Consideration.

Whilst this case was in session within court the media covered it, showing all of the session upon TV. This put pressure upon the case to be performed in a professional manner however as stated previously the actions of the police caused the acquittal of OJ Simpson to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.