Title: Florida Regional Community Policing Institute at St' Petersburg College With funding from: Dept' of
1 Florida Regional Community Policing Institute
at St. Petersburg CollegeWith funding from
Dept. of Justice, COPS Office
Professionalism Leadership in Law Enforcement
2Overview of the Course
- Character, Professionalism, Leadership
- Foundations of Ethics
- Ethical Decision-Making
- Ethical Issues in Law Enforcement
- Conflict of Interest, Power, Autonomy, Discretion
- Ethical Leadership
3Class Introductions
- Choose partner for quick interviews, then
introduce your partner to the class. - Name
- Agency rank
- Years in law enforcement profession
- Hobbies or off-the-job interests
4Course Ground Rules (p. 1)
- Participate fully
- Ask questions
- Apply new knowledge
- Respect others opinions
- Keep an open mind
- Help lead the discussion
5Themes of the Day
6Themes of the Day
- Roles of Law Enforcement Officers
- Character in Law Enforcement
- Professionalism in Law Enforcement
- Leaders Leadership
7Group 1Roles of LEOs
- Role/ Function
- Protector
- Negotiator
- Mediator
- Social Worker
- Investigator
- Others?
- Qualities Needed
- Clint Eastwood
- Salesperson
- Diplomat
- Caring/Compassionate
- Sherlock Holmes
- ??
8Group 210 Character Traits of Good Officers
- Honest
- Courageous
- Wise
- Caring
- Team-player
- Self-disciplined
- Law-Abiding
- Patient
- Dependable
- Fair / Impartial
9Group 3Professionalism
- Professionalism
- Goes beyond requirements
- Seeks excellence
- Knows job well
- Trusted
- Duties before self-interest
- Unprofessionalism
- Does only minimum enough to get by
- Settles for mediocrity
- Knowledge limited
- Cant be fully trusted
- Self-interest before duties
10Group 4AEffective Leadership
- Effective
- Delegates
- Above pettiness
- Visionary
- Organized
- Prioritizes well
- Mentors others
- Strong communication skills
- Ineffective
- Does not delegate well
- Petty/Holds grudges
- No vision
- Scattered/Chaotic
- Priorities poorly
- Exploits others
- Frustrating Communicator
11Group 4BEthical Leadership
- Ethical Leaders
- Integrity Good Person
- Always truthful
- Treats all fairly
- Positive role model
- Unethical Leaders
- Many faces no character
- Dont assume truthfulness
- Plays favorites or discriminates
- Negative role model
12Foundations of Ethics
13Foundations of Ethics
- Explore challenges to ethical reasoning
- Evaluate Origins of Ethical Beliefs
- Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Kant, Rawls
- Apply principles to ethics scenarios
14Challenges to EthicsRelativism
- What is morally right/wrong varies from one
person to another or from one society to another. - Ethical discussions are pointless because there
are no universal ethical principles that apply to
everyone.
15Challenges to EthicsAbsolutism
- All moral/ethical judgments are the same for
everyone. - There is one and only one correct answer to every
ethical question, no matter how personal or
trivial.
16Challenges to EthicsLegalism
- Ethical discussions are unnecessary because we
have laws to tell us what is right and wrong. - Why argue about ethics when we can just look it
up in a law book?
17Origins of Ethics Beliefs(Richard Doss)
- On what do we base our ethical beliefs?
18Origins of Ethical Beliefs(Richard Doss)
- Authority
- What makes an action right or wrong is that
someone in a position of authority said it was.
These authorities can be governmental, religious,
parental, departmental, etc.
19Origins of Ethics - Authority
- Pro Obedience to authority is essential to
maintaining an orderly society. - Con Authorities arent always right. Blind
obedience to authority can lead people to do some
terrible things.
20Origins of Ethical Beliefs
- Culture
- What makes an action right or wrong is that my
culture believes it to be that way. - Morality is based on the deepest values and
principles of ones society.
21Origins of Ethics - Culture
- Pro Helps to create social unity and cohesion
through a shared value system. - Con What if you live in a society with a lousy
value system? Dont social value systems have to
be measured against some kind of universal
ethical principles?
22Origins of Ethical Beliefs
- Emotion
- What makes an action right is that it makes me
feel good or happy. - What makes an action wrong is that it makes me
feel bad or unhappy.
23Origins of Ethics - Emotion
- Pro Emotions are great motivators and
persuaders. (Coaches, politicians) - Con Emotions are present tense. Things that make
us happy now can lead to painful consequences.
Some people get happiness from doing terrible
things to others.
24Origins of Ethical Beliefs
- Intuition
- This person thinks that actions are right or
wrong because they just seem that way to him. - He has some kind of gut instinct, hunch, first
impression, an inner voice.
25Origins of Ethics - Intuition
- Pro Not bad idea to listen to that inner voice
those warning bells. - Con Sometimes we jump to wrong conclusions. With
intuition alone, you never know why anything is
right or wrong. Just seems that way.
26Origins of Ethical Beliefs
- Reason
- Ethical right and wrong are based on consistent,
logical thinking. - An action is right or wrong because it makes
logical sense to think so.
27Origins of Ethics - Reason
- Pro Tool that lets us question and challenge the
other origins. - Con It doesnt always seem to tell us all the
same thing to lead to the same answers.
28Introduction to Ethical Theories
- Is there a right or best way to think about
right/wrong that will lead us to truth? - Think of looking in windows at a crime scene.
29Ethical Theories
- The arguments of some of historys greatest
thinkers for the most logical way to think about
ethics. - The sources of most of the ethical principles we
believe in and follow. - Why learn about them here?
30Natural Rights (John Locke)
- British philosopher and medical doctor,
1632-1704. - Locke believed that ethics should be based on
individual human rights.
31Natural Rights
- Central Ethical Principle
- Everyone is entitled to as many rights and
freedoms as possible, as long as rights and
freedoms of others are not violated.
32Natural Rights
- The only possible moral wrong is to violate
another persons rights. - This theory was hugely influential on U.S.
founders.
336 Kinds of Rights
- Security Rights
- Protect people from murder, injury, and torture.
346 Kinds of Rights
- Due Process Rights
- Protect people from arbitrary and excessively
harsh punishments require fair and public trials
for those accused of crimes.
356 Kinds of Rights
- Liberty Rights
- Protect peoples freedoms in areas such as
belief, expression, association, and movement.
366 Kinds of Rights
- Political Rights
- Protects peoples freedom to participate in
politics by assembling, protesting, voting, and
serving in public office.
376 Kinds of Rights
- Equality Rights
- Guarantee equal citizenship equality before the
law freedom from discrimination.
386 Kinds of Rights
- Welfare Rights
- Require that people be provided with education
and protected from starvation and severe poverty.
39How to Use Natural Rights
- Consider the optional actions that could be
taken. - Eliminate any options that violate anyones
rights. - All remaining options are ethically permissible.
40Application
41Kantianism - Immanuel Kant
- German philosopher, 1724-1804
- Goal To show that individuals can determine
moral right/wrong for themselves, and not be
dependent on authorities to tell them what is
right.
42Kant
- Key Showing people how to use logic and moral
reasoning to determine ethical right and wrong.
43Kants Two Key Principles
- Universality You should always act
consistently with the moral standard that you
would want everyone else to follow. - Respect for Persons Its always wrong to
exploit people to use them in a way that harms
them for the benefit of someone else.
44How to Use Kant
- Consider your options.
- Eliminate any that violate universality or
respect for persons. - All remaining options are morally permissible.
45Application
46Utilitarianism
- Jeremy Bentham, British, 1748-1832
- Ethics based on producing the greatest possible
good for the greatest possible number. (good
happiness)
47Utilitarianism
- The individual isnt very important.
- Individual rights are irrelevant.
- Only thing that matters is overall good of the
group.
48How to Use Utilitarianism
- Consider your options.
- Consider everyone who could be affected by these
options and how much happiness or unhappiness
would result to each person with each option. - Option with highest net utility is the most
ethical option.
49Application
50Contractarianism
- John Rawls, American, 1921-2002.
- Foundation of ethics is fairness.
- Problem Human nature is to act from
self-interest, making it hard to recognize real
fairness when we see it.
51Contractarianism
- Solution Veil of ignorance
- Imaginary blindfold preventing you from knowing
exactly who you are in a situation.
52Contractarianism
- Which action would seem most fair to you, no
matter whom you turned out to be in the situation?
53How to Use Contractarianism
- Consider your options.
- Using the veil of ignorance, choose the option
that would seem most fair to you no matter whom
you were in the situation.
54Application
55Virtue Ethics
- Ancient Athens, 450-350 B.C.
- 3 Great Lights Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
- First to base ethical decisions on reason and
logical thinking.
56Virtue Ethics
- Assumption Purpose of life is to find happiness
and fulfillment. - Greeks searching for the good life, pattern of
living that would lead to happiness and
fulfillment. - How do we find it?
57Platos Strategies
- (Assumption) Happy, fulfilled people are
generally morally mature people. - What are they doing right?
- Which character traits do morally mature people
generally share?
58Virtues
- These character traits of a good life are called
virtues - Self-control, justice, wisdom, courage
- Happiness/fulfillment comes from incorporating
these into our lives.
59Defining Virtues
- How can we know precisely what a virtue means?
(courage, generosity, etc.) - Aristotles test is called the golden mean.
Virtues are a perfect balance between undesirable
extremes. - Examples?
60Virtue Ethics
- So, a good person is one who incorporates
important virtues into his life. The more
virtues, the better the odds of finding
happiness/fulfillment.
61How to Use Virtue Ethics
- Consider your options
- Follow the course of action consistent with the
most ethical virtues.
62Application
63Natural Law Thomas Aquinas
- Theme Good is to be done and promoted evil is
to be avoided. - Instead of virtues, Aquinas focused on values.
- Values are beliefs, ideas. Virtues are personal
character traits.
64Natural Law
- Aquinas identified six universal human values
- Human Life
- Health
- Procreation
- Welfare of children
- Knowledge
- Human Relationships
65Natural Law
- Actions that promote these values are good.
- Actions that violate or interfere with these
values are evil. - Contemporary American values?
66How to Use Natural Law
- Consider the values relevant to the situation or
decision. - Follow a course of action that does not violate
or interfere with any universal values.
67Application
68Applying Ethical Theories
- Natural Rights
- Kantianism
- Utilitarianism
- Contractarianism
- Virtue Ethics
- Natural Law
- Read the scenario (p. 17).
- Work together to decide what course of action
each theory would recommend as the right or best. - Record answers on p. 18.
69The ETHICS ModelApplied Ethics Institute,St.
Petersburg College
70The ETHICS Model
- (E) Evaluate the Problem
- Identify the central ethical decision that needs
to be made.
71The ETHICS Model
- (T) Think Through the Options
- What optional actions are available to resolve
the problem? - Identify four or more options.
- Avoid short-term thinking.
72The ETHICS Model
- (H) Highlight the Stakeholders
- Stakeholders are those who could be affected by
your optional actions. - Identify as many as possible.
- Also consider how various individuals or groups
might be affected by the options.
73The ETHICS Model
- (I) Identify Apply Relevant Ethical Principles
- Evaluate options by the central ethical
principles of each ethical theory. - Which options would a theory forbid?
- Which options would a theory recommend?
74The ETHICS Model
- (C) Choose the Best/Wisest Course of Action
- Review the previous steps.
- Using that information, choose the option that
you believe represents the best/wisest course of
action.
75The ETHICS Model
- (S) State Your Justification
- Justify your decision.
- Give at least 3 main reasons why you chose this
option over any others. - Use earlier steps for ammo.
76Applying theETHICS Model
77Conflicts of Interest in Law Enforcement
78What is a Conflict of Interest?
- C of Is occur when
- A person (Bob) is in a relationship with another,
requiring Bob to exercise personal judgment in
the others behalf, and - Bob has another interest tending to interfere
with the proper exercise of that judgment. - Examples?
79Whats Wrong withConflicts of Interest?
- It causes Bob to be less reliable and
trustworthy. - It increases the risk of poor decisions and
judgments. - Examples?
80Conflicts of Interest - Levels
- Real (or actual) conflicts
- Example
- Potential conflicts
- Example
- Perceived (or apparent) conflicts
- Example
81Conflicts of Interest - Responses
- Do nothing ignore it.
- Avoid the situation.
- Escape the conflict.
- Disclose the conflict.
- Manage the conflict.
82Conflict of Interest
83Power, Autonomy Discretion
84Power
- Law enforcement professionals are one of a very
few groups in society allowed to have
non-negotiable, coercive force. - (Others include parents, judges, and perhaps
teachers.)
85Power
- The proper handling of power requires maturity
and wisdom. - When power is abused or wielded unwisely, society
usually steps in and takes it away.
86Autonomy
- Means Self-governance
- Society grants autonomy in exchange for providing
some unique important service.
87Autonomy
- This autonomy is based on trust. When trust is
violated, autonomy is usually taken away. - The proper use of autonomy also requires maturity
and wisdom.
88Discretion
- Discretion is the individual version of group
autonomy. It means being trusted to make your
own decisions, at least in some areas. - Discretion has limits. Never absolute.
89Discretion
- Discretion also requires maturity and wisdom.
- When discretion is misused or abused, it is
usually scaled back or taken away.
90Application
- Power, Autonomy Discretion
91Effective Ethical Leadership
92Manager vs. Leader
- Manager
- You direct the work, rather than perform it.
- Leader
- You believe that, working in concert with others,
you can make a difference.
93Manager vs. Leader
- Manager
- You have responsibilities for hiring, firing,
training disciplining employees.
- Leader
- You create something of value that did not exist
before.
94Manager vs. Leader
- Manager
- You exercise authority over the quality of work
and the conditions under which it is performed.
- Leader
- You exhibit positive energy.
95Manager vs. Leader
- Manager
- You work as a liaison between employees and upper
management.
- Leader
- You create a sense of accomplishment for yourself
and others.
96Manager vs. Leader
- Manager
- You motivate employees and contribute to a
culture of accomplishment.
- Leader
- You welcome and embrace change.
97Components of Ethical Leadership
- Purpose
- The ethical leader reasons and acts with
organizational purposes firmly in mind. This
provides focus and consistency.
98Components of Ethical Leadership
- Knowledge
- The ethical leader has the knowledge to judge
act prudently. This knowledge is found
throughout the organization, but must be shared
by those who hold it.
99Components of Ethical Leadership
- Authority
- The ethical leader has the power to make
decisions and act, but also recognizes that all
of those involved and affected must have the
authority to contribute what they have toward
shared purposes.
100Components of Ethical Leadership
- Trust
- The ethical leader inspires and is the
beneficiary of trust throughout the
organization and its environment. Without trust
and knowledge, people are afraid to express their
authority.
101Character Traits of Effective and Ethical Leaders
- Courage
- Pride
- Sincerity
- Adaptability
- Influence
102Modes of Ethical Leadership
- Level 1 Inspiration
- Setting the example so others will contribute to
their fullest to achieve the organizations
goals. - (Lowest level of intervention)
103Modes of Ethical Leadership
- Level 2 Facilitation
- Supporting other committed members, and guiding
them when necessary, so that they are able to
contribute their capabilities as much as possible.
104Modes of Ethical Leadership
- Level 3 Persuasion
- Appealing to reason to convince others to
contribute toward achieving these goals and
purposes.
105Modes of Ethical Leadership
- Level 4 Manipulation
- Offering incentives when commitment is lacking.
106Modes of Ethical Leadership
- Level 5 Coercion
- Forcing others to contribute some degree of their
capability when they have little commitment to do
so on their own. - (Highest level of intervention)
107Wrap Up Closure
108Last Assignments
- Help to write a short scenario for use in a
future class. - Post-test
- Class Evaluation