NCJ Number
196882
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 69 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 36-37,39
Editor(s)
Charles E. Higgenbotham
Date Published
September 2002
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article addresses the public's increased need for protection following September 11 and the fact that dedicated, competent, and honest law enforcement professionals are more important than ever.
Abstract
The author of this article, president and founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, Character Counts Coalition, Marina del Rey, California, reviews his presentation made to the Long Beach Police Department in their ceremony of conferring badges on 40 new police officers. He also notes that the police chiefs and other law enforcement executives need to take special care to ensure that the men and women entrusted to protect the public do so with the utmost competence and integrity. He states that the police badge is a symbol of public faith which will be tested by overt attempts to corrupt the new officers, and also by systemic forces that can blur their vision and cause them to neglect their ideals. He recommends that officers who think of police work as a calling tend to meet and overcome ethical challenges much better than those who view it simply as a job. He recommends hiring for character and training for skills as the best and simplest strategies. Core ethical values can be taught and reinforced, and retention and promotion decisions should reflect a total and uncompromising commitment to the values of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. The article concludes with guidance for all phases of the police officers' careers by the promotion of ethical discernment, the ability to distinguish right from wrong and make hard decisions where there is no clear cut right answer; and ethical discipline, the moral strength to do the right thing even when it is difficult and costly to do so.