Transcript Ethics Training for New Hires

Ethics in Law
Enforcement
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Performance
Objectives
 Define ethics and discuss the importance of
the appropriate training
 Recognize the National Law Enforcement
Disciplinary Research Project (The National
Institute of Ethics)
 Explain the Continuum of Compromise
 Explain the Code of Silence
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… more on Objectives
Identify Why Law Enforcement Officers, Both
on and off Duty, Should Exemplify the Highest
Ethical and Moral Standard
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What are Ethics?
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 Standards or rules of conduct by
which we live. A system of rights and
wrongs
 Values—Beliefs upon which our
actions and decisions are made
 Integrity—Having character that
develops hope, honesty, courage,
empathy, etc.
It is wrong to lie, steal, and
cheat.
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Do We Need to Teach Ethics?
YES WE DO!
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Ethics and Integrity in Law
Enforcement is the Greatest Training
and Leadership Need for Several
Critical Reasons
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 Misconduct becomes front page news that is
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often distorted
Citizens confidence in agency declines
Career ending ramifications
(promotions/demotions)
Officers and their families face public
humiliation
Some officers as a result of misconduct
commit suicide (two to three times the number
of those who die in the line of duty)
Civil law suits resulting in enormous
settlements and judgments
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Ethics Should Be Viewed as Career Survival
Training
 We need to be trained to prevent us from
succumbing to unethical behavior.
 Simply defining ethics and reading the Code of
Ethics can’t achieve this.
 Further evidence to support the need for
comprehensive training. (Recent news)
 We need the training to survive in our career and
make it to retirement.
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National Law Enforcement Disciplinary
Research Project
A national research project conducted by
training commissions/councils throughout the
nation that compiled statistics between 2000
and 2005 on officers who received formal
discipline by their respective state commission
or council.
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Findings
 Between 2000 and 2005 3,884 law officers went
through the de-certification process
 502 of these cases were dismissed
 Of the remaining 3,382 officers
 2,296 officers were totally decertified
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Additional Findings
 The average age of the de-certified officer was
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 93% were male and 7% were female
 73% were Caucasian 19% were African
American and 8% were Hispanic
 85% were line officers
 Average years of sworn service was 7.2 years
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Crimes Committed Resulting in Decertification
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Greed (26.99%)
Anger (19.69%)
Lust (12.74%)
Peer Pressure (12.70%)
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Questions?
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Before training, we must understand
what causes officers to commit
unethical acts
 They justify their actions with excuses
 They experience momentary selfishness
 They make a bad decision
 They are afraid of paying the price for doing the
right thing
 Accountability? Do we hold people accountable?
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Continuum of Compromise
The continuum of compromise outlines the
path of ethical compromise and can be
used to help officers mentally prepare for
the ethical dilemmas they will face
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 It is the framework for understanding and
teaching how the transition from “honest
cop” to “compromised officer” can occur.
 When inadequately prepared, even the
most honest, above reproach officers can
make inappropriate split-second ethical
decisions.
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 Understanding the issues and being
mentally prepared will help officers
assume responsibility for and make more
appropriate decisions.
 Officers who view compromise as an “all
or none” phenomenon will not see
compromise as an unlikely event and will
not become mentally prepared.
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First is a Sense of Victimization
 When young officers over-invest in and over-identify
with their professional role the will develop a sense of
singular identity based on their job and an increase
sense of victimization
 A perceived sense of victimization can lead to the
rationalization and justification of acts of omission
 As a sense of perceived victimization intensifies,
officers become more distrusting and resentful of
anyone controls their job role
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Second is Acts of Omission
 “Acts of Omission” occur when officers rationalize
and justify not doing things they are responsible
for doing
 Acts of omission can include selective nonproductivity (ignoring certain traffic and criminal
violations)
 Over looking activity, over looking superficial
investigations, omitting paperwork, lack of follow
up, and just doing enough to get by are examples
of activities officers omit
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Third is Acts of Commission –
Administrative
 Once officers routinely omit job responsibilities,
the journey to the next step is not a difficult one
to make
 Instead of just omitting duties and responsibilities,
officers commit administrative violations—
Breaking small rules is no big deal
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Finally, Acts of Commission – Criminal
 Unsuspecting officers can unwittingly travel to
the next and final stage of the continuum
 At first, acts of criminal commission appear
benign and not any different than the acts of
administrative commission
 Officers will rationalize embellishing overtime
and payroll records because they owe me.
What’s the big deal?”
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Acts of Commission – Criminal (Cont.)
 The initial honest, dedicated, above reproach
officers now ask, “where did it all go wrong,”
“how did this happen” as they face the realities
of personal and professional devastation and
criminal prosecution.
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Questions?
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“Code of Silence”
Do Officers Participate in the
Code of Silence? Does the Code
of Silence Exist?
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What is the Code of
Silence?
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Academy Recruit Code of Silence Research
 79% said that a law enforcement code of
silence exists and is fairly common throughout
the nation
 52% said that the fact that the code of silence
doesn’t really bother them
 24% said the code of silence is more justified
when excessive force involves a suspect who is
arrogant or abusive
 46% said they would not tell on another officer
for having sex on duty
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Continued
 7% said nothing is wrong with lying to prevent another
officer from getting in trouble because the bond of
loyalty among officers is so important
 23% said that they would not tell on another officer
for regularly smoking marijuana off duty
 24% said that they would be more likely to participate
in the code of silence if their supervisor and the
administration treated employees with great respect
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Research of the types of incidents that
prompted officers to take part in the code
of silence
 Anger was the most frequent incident over which
the code of silence occurs (41%)
 Peer Pressure was the second most common
motivation (20%)
 (16%) of the circumstances were motivated by
greed
 (8%) of the situations were related to lust
 (15%) of the remaining incidents were DUI
offenses, illegal searches, misconduct, FTO doing
personal business on duty, and perjury
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What Officers Suggested for Controlling
the Code (Ones Who Participated)
 Conduct good ethics training
 More consistent accountability
 Ensure open communication between
officers and leaders
 Provide an anonymous reporting system
 Protect whistleblowers
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Officers Who Had Not Concealed
Information
 Teach officers to make good ethical and moral
direction (ethics training)
 Hire officers with integrity
 Hold people accountable for their actions
 Give individuals a confidential way to report
misconduct
 Consistent enforcement of the rules
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Not Dealing With the Code of
Silence Will Eventually Destroy
the Integrity of an Agency
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Conclusion
The Oath of Honor—I Will Always
Hold Myself and Others
Accountable for Having Courage to
Do the Right Thing
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Performance Objectives
 Define ethics and discuss the importance of the
appropriate training
 National Law Enforcement Disciplinary Research
Project (The National Institute of Ethics)
 Continuum of Compromise
 Code of Silence
34
… more on Objectives
Identify Why Law Enforcement
Officers, Both on and off Duty,
Should Exemplify the Highest
Ethical and Moral Standard
35