I am teaching a class in Ethics for Law Enforcement and have included several of your commentaries into it for discussion purposes with this one being my all-time favorite. I ask them to think about persons they would consider ethical and then ask them if they think their names would appear on anyone's list if they were asked the same question. After discussion, I read this commentary by Mr. Josephson and it seems to tie it all together so well. I appreciate all your organization does to keep me grounded and on track with the ethics program I am pushing for within our police department.

I think I got this from you previously, and this will apply to anything worthwhile:

"Excellence is achievable but not without sacrifice and discipline."

Keep up the good work. I enjoy all you are doing and have done!

Kudos to the law enforcement teacher. Teaching ethics from within such an important organization is a great place to start. I wish most government agencies would adopt the Character Counts teachings. A solid foundation of principles is much needed and then we might be in a better place. While we all think and wish for excellence, we mostly live and settle in mediocracy and the easy way out.

The lists I care the most about being on are my husband's and my daughter's. I think I can safely say I made both lists!

Ethics in law enforcement seems like an oxymoron from my experience. An ethics class would be a great thing to teach ALL who wish to enter the field of law enforcement or corrections. It seems the importance has fallen to the wayside in favor of fear of the public. Good luck to you Lee in getting this more widespread. I think it is the missing piece that makes police officers into peace officers (as they were intended).

Excellent article. I think we all could do with a "Be a Better Person" fitness program as well as a good exercise program!

Ethics is very important,so keep up the work. Kudos to you.

Ethics in law enforcement isn’t an oxymoron, it’s a joke! When police and attorneys (and their family and friends) can have tickets fixed as a favor, then no ethics exist. When police can have their own DUIs overlooked, then no ethics exist. When police overlook domestic disturbances for their colleagues, then no ethics exist. When police observe the blue line and back their fellow officers regardless of the truth, then no ethics exist. When police break the law under the guise of “putting the bad guys in jail,” then no ethics exist. Law enforcement agencies are among the most corrupt organizations in the country and are a primary cause of the rise in the crime rate and lack of ethics and morals they claim to battle. Ethics in law enforcement? Don’t make me laugh.

James posts an interesting perspective. It seems the corruption of ethics in Law Enforcment is rampant. But the key word is “seems.”

If one pours milk on the morning cereal and a bug floats to the top, it is our fear that the cereal as full of bugs. This fear may or may not be true.

Although I have personally experienced ethics violations by law enforcement, which left a very bitter taste in my mouth, I have to say the good far outweighs the bad, just as the cereal outweighs the bug. But it only takes a pinch of anything distasteful to ruin the whole recipe.

The only way to reduce ethics violations is through education - starting while our children are learning reading, writing, and arithmetic; and with reminders through adulthood. I am very grateful that the Josephson Institute recognizes this need and is making efforts to fill this void with commentaries and through Character Counts!

I disagree with David's assessment that “the good far outweighs the bad” in law enforcement. Over the years I have known many people involved in law enforcement - police, attorneys, judges, city council members, mayors, county supervisors, state legislators, etc. Nearly all of them have at one time used their influence or positiion to fix legal situations ranging from traffic tickets to DUIs to domestic abuse to fabricating evidence. They view it as either a perk or requirement of the job. To use David’s analogy, if you were to open up the law enforcement cereal box, you would get a grain of cereal floating to the top of the bugs. In my conversations with others throughout the country, it is quite apparent that this is the case from Maine to California. Unethical behavior is rampant among those charged with upholding our laws. It’s almost funny to hear law enforcement professionals complain about the sad state of affairs when the tone they set creates the very behavior they are charged with policing.

It’s unfortunate that some people have to paint law enforcement officers with such a broad brush. My experience is that it is very difficult to find candidates who want to do the job. I’m not talking about the ability to perform the function, though the hurdles of having the required character, intelligence, and physical ability disqualify an awful lot of people. My point is that, of those who remain after this initial screen, most of the members of this society simply do not want to be police officers. For some it doesn’t pay enough, for others the hours and working conditions seem too harsh, and for the largest cohort the actual work itself is not satisfying or in line with their temperament and strengths. It’s a job that has to be performed for all of us to live in a relatively peaceful and orderly society—somebody has to step forward with the courage and commitment to hold the line for civilization to endure. Since it has such an impact on our quality of life, I don’t begrudge anyone expressing a well-considered, constructive opinion on how it can be done better. I just wish they would season their thinking with a measure of humility since these officers are doing a difficult job that the great majority happily leave to someone else.

I have many friends and family in law enforcement and attorneys. I am saddened to say that the field has sunk into the depths of unethical behavior as compared to the glorious opinion I had as a child. Since so much is covered up, we have no idea of how many bugs on the cereal are true, but bugs keep popping up. In one part of Southern California, attorneys and judges meet at a particular bar to socialize and drink. One important judge gets smashed regularly and insists on driving home himself. So they call the police and clear the road before him as he swerves his way home. Attorneys often bargain away the cases ("Hey, you can give my Mr. X guilts with 2 felonies if you let my Mr. Y off with a misdemeanor"). My sister was one of them. There is a county jail where the guards meet to party together. They smoke marijuana, get drunk, and have a sex orgy. They tell me this themselves. One thing the public doesn't remember is that a few years ago, there was a case that went to the Supreme Court which ruled that police can lie about anything they want so they can catch the bad guys. Being trained to be liars and to trick people hurts their character. Recently the Orange County sheriff resigned to defend himself against multiple felonies. The new sheriff said she was shocked that 5 officers lied to her. (Hey, they are trained to be that way!)

This topic is very front and center in my life lately. Crime appears to be the largest industry in America today. For most of those involved in the legal or justice system, there is very little reason to prevent, detour or correct even the smallest infraction. There are many, many people making a very good living off criminals. Everyone from bondsman to bailiff, probation officers, court staff, prison personnel, Thinking Errors administrators, attorneys (both sides), clerks and the list seems infinite. Once an unwary citizen gets caught in the cycle, it becomes very difficult to get released from the sticky hold of law enforcement. Much of the legal mechanism is designed for failure and the crime-fighting cash register just keeps ringing up fines and compensation. I believe most citizens are unaware of how biased toward failure the system is. Most don't know that while in jail a daily fee is charged against the inmate. They pay for their parole officer, testing, classes, fines, counselors, court fees, etc. It appears everyone has their hand out. Why would system providers want crime to go away? I can hear folks saying that it serves criminals right to pay for all of it. That implies that they received adequate representation, a jury of their peers and a legal arrest by an ethical law enforcement officer. I thought those things happened as well. By the time we learn otherwise, we are involved in some way and have lost at least a little credibility (enough to discredit any points you might address). I've seen youthful (underage) pranks (name on bathroom wall) turned into felonies (graffiti) to feed this system. This example turned into a witch hunt for two years with prosecutors threatening witnesses, officers trailing and photographing suspects and badgering businesses. A felony for writing your name on a bathroom stall in a bar. Good grief! This is only one example of what happens in one city. The law-respecting public needs to wake up before it's them being cuffed. If there are ethical folks involved in the legal & law enforcement world, I hope they speak up and help address these issues.

I am a commander in a law enforcement agency and it saddens me to see the negative comments about law enforcement. We should not condemn all law enforcement personnel for the actions of a few. It is true, at times people are unethical and make the wrong choices and decisions. But that is true in all professions and all walks of life - not just law enforcement. As a leader in a police department, I believe it is part of my responsibility to screen out or weed out people you cannot believe in or rely on. If you find the bad apple in the barrel, you have to remove that bad apple. But please do not look at the entire profession or all the people involved in the profession as bad apples.