Character and cops: ethics in policing

In this book, the author examines ethics in law enforcement, discusses how today's police officers can meet the ethical challenges of policing while fulfilling heightened demands for better security. The quandaries law-enforcement officials face on a daily basis require thoughtful deliberation and support from those in positions of authority within their organizations. In this book, the author examines the ethical questions most often raised by police and other law-enforcement officials in the criminal-justice system. In a newly added final chapter, the author examines actual cases, offering four examples of competence and moral probity in law enforcement: the thorough investigation of the massacre at Columbine High School conducted under FBI leadership; the effective transformation of the police force in the Rampart Area of Los Angeles following catastrophic police corruption and misconduct in the 1990s; the successful anti-gang effort conducted by the Fairfax County Police in Virginia; and the design and progress of the New York State Office of Homeland Security. Although the author focuses specifically on the importance of character in law enforcement, the book has a broader application to questions of public trust and ethics education, and contains a look at these four cases of law-enforcement ethics in action.

Foreword / Patrick V. Murphy -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Excellence of character -- First and second nature -- Character and police -- The morally important and the morally problematic -- 3. The mission of police -- The experiment in ordered liberty -- Disorder and injustice -- Against tyranny -- Mission -- Public confidence -- Codes of ethics and personal character -- 4. The public trust and probity -- Private trust -- The public trust -- Competence -- Trustworthiness -- 5. Discretion -- Judgment and rules -- Respect for limits -- Policies and laws -- Force and deadly force -- Anticipation and planning -- 6. Public corruption for profit -- Incorruptibility -- Cynicism and consolation -- Higher standards and double standards -- Hypotheses about corruption -- Departmental supervision -- Gratuities and the slippery slope -- Character and free will -- 7. Authority and reform in controlling corruption -- The authority to lead -- Alliances -- Conspiracies of silence -- Reform -- Combating mediocrity -- Review and advisory boards -- 8. Leadership and the character of a department -- Realistic expectations -- Burnout -- Merit and affirmative action -- Recruiting, selectio…