The question of whether police should use immoral means to reach a desired moral end is addressed by the term:

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The Dirty Harry problem refers to the question of whether it is ethical for police to use illegal or immoral means to achieve a desired moral end, such as saving innocent lives. The term comes from the 1971 film "Dirty Harry" in which the protagonist, a police detective, uses aggressive and extrajudicial methods to catch a serial killer. The term has since been used in discussions of police ethics to consider the trade-offs between upholding the law and protecting the public.

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