I chose to interview a retired West Virginia State Trooper for this critical ana

I chose to interview a retired West Virginia State Trooper for this critical analysis paper. The state trooper that I interviewed was a county deputy for 10 years and then decided to become a state trooper and retired after 15 years. During our interview he had numerous stories to tell and how being a policer officer shaped him to be the man that he is today. As soon as we sat down for the interview, he eagerly began to tell me about his experiences throughout his career.
There were two main take aways from my interview with him is that there are two different types of ethical dilemmas that were common throughout his career. The first being, as he called it, ethical dilemmas that will test your character. Throughout our interview he had an abundance of stories to tell me regarding this dilemma and it would happen more often than one would think. When individuals are placed into these situations it is important to remember your morals and the police officer you want to be. The second big ethical dilemma that he discussed having in his career was when it involved individuals that he knew on a personal level. These dilemmas could range from minor instances where the police officer has the discretion to let someone out of a ticket or it could be a police officer seeing another police officer do something and not telling anyone about it. These instances are also what can test an individual’s character.
While the police officer told numerous stories regarding each of these different types of ethical dilemmas there was one story stood out to me. When this police officer started his career, he was young and really looked up to one police officer. The police officer had been at that agency for five years and was known around the county as the “one to not be messed with”. The man I was interviewing stated he did not know why he had that reputation but assumed it was how he carried himself and that he was one of the bigger guys at that department.
After a year at this department, he got very close to the man, and they worked the same shift. He loved telling stories about their night shift adventures and expressed how funny this man was. Then one night shift the man explained how everything changed for him. He explained how he saw his friend have a temper, but he seemed to manage it well. However, this night his friend did not. While the suspect was in custody the man he looked up to and how considered a friend began to hit the man due to the prior events leading up to subduing the suspect. The man I was interviewing said he hit the suspect three times and by the time he was able to fully grasp what he witnessed it was over. Afterwards his friend asked him to have his back and say he had to hit the suspect in order to subdue him.
The retired state trooper stated that this was the first time that he experienced an ethical dilemma with an individual on the force that he was very close with at work and on a personal level. Sadly, this was not last time the state trooper experienced someone like this in the department doing something unethical and illegal. However, this is the story that he said haunts him because it was the first and last time he froze and did not do anything about it while the event was happening in front of him.