Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing

Abstract

This work covers the major police scandals and controversies of our time and uses them to explore the ethical standards that should govern police commands and individual officers. It discusses the coarsening of life in modern society and parallels to ethical problems in policing, drama of current events, and the glare of public scrutiny. Although the author focuses specifically on the importance of character in law enforcement, the text has broader application to questions of individual character, public trust, corruption, moral training, and ethics education within society at large. Do the trial of O.J. Simpson, the events at Ruby Ridge, the tragedy at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, and the beating of Rodney King reveal a crisis in law enforcement? What are the right and wrong lessons from Ruby Ridge and the trial of O.J. Simpson? How should cops handle issues of personal conscience?

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