Ethics

The recent events surrounding CIA Director Petraeus has again brought to the surface the idea of ethics. Ethics and the perception of ethics is important to all. I can speak to ethics in Law Enforcement and State Government Investigative Positions.

It is not only important that an officer’s, or any other public servant’s actions are always above reproach, but also what is important is how the public perceives their ethics from what they see.

I will present a few examples:

A store or restaurant giving an officer a free cup of coffee or a soda doubtfully would influence actions by the majority of officers and public servants, but the public sees the officer getting something merely because of their position and authority. To insure there were no misunderstandings I always made my payment for coffee or other items very verbal so all around could hear and see me pay or insist to pay. When a storeowner insisted and would not except payment I would leave something on the counter anyway. Now I will admit there were a few times I accepted a drink, cookie or other very small inexpensive item when it was apparent it was necessary to do so in an effort to maintain a good working relationship with a reporting party, victim, or suspect. It is culturally offensive and an insult to some to not accept their small signs of hospitality

An officer or public servant should refrain from doing anything that could be questionable such as consume alcohol in the geographic area they work to avoid perceptions of driving while intoxicated or the engagement in illicit sex or illegal activity. I very seldom drank any alcoholic beverages in restaurants and bars where I worked.  I tried to visit establishments in other cities or states.

Officers and other public servants need to be careful not to live beyond their publicly known income level. The public doesn’t know the reason the officer drives an expensive car, boat or lives in an expensive home is because of an inheritance or highly paid spouse. They think the officer must be accepting bribes, stealing recovered money or other illegal and unethical behavior supplement their salary.

The long and short of it is law enforcement officers and other public servants must behave and live their lives above reproach and additionally not do anything that could lead the public to perceive and question the officer’s or public servants ethics and behaviors.

Until Next Time,

Sally S.