LEADERSHIP ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The police services of every country must have

ethical and honest personnel as its serving members.
No police service can effectively serve
its country if the police personnel lack ethical standards.
The same people who enforce the law must also
obey the law, or the police will lose the respect of
the public and when the public does not respect
its police service, it will not obey police orders
voluntarily and it will not cooperate with the
police.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
 The “standards of conduct and moral requirements” necessary to function effectively within an
organization or profession.
Ethics, in the law enforcement context, means honest and honorable service to the community rather
than working for personal gain or individual profit.
• The police service has the unique responsibility within an organized society to maintain law and
order within the community.
• Because we are entrusted with this important and fundamental authority, we, the people who
have been given this lawful power, must exercise such power with restraint and according to
ethical standards.
Challenges to Police Ethical Behavior
The primary challenges to ethical police behavior are due to:
• Individual character challenges or,
• Organizational challenges.
Individual character challenges – These difficulties arise from personal flaws or defects where police
personnel engage in acts of
• dishonesty,
• greed,
• brutality, or
• individual acts of corruption.
Example: a police officer stops a motorist or truck driver for a traffic violation and the motorist
offers a small amount of cash not to issue a traffic citation.
Organizational challenges – Organizational challenges to police ethics are more difficult to deal with.
In such instances, the entire police organization, or an entire unit, has adopted unethical and
unprofessional police standards.
Example: Police agencies that engage in corrupt practices include such activities as offering
“protection rackets” to allow criminal gangs to continue business, while demanding a
percentage of the criminal gains;
Ethical and Moral Behavior
Ethics
is the standards of conduct and moral requirements necessary to function effectively within an
organization or profession
Morality
is the area of knowledge that is concerned with principles of right and wrong behavior, and
establishing and conforming to such principles.
Is Ethics important in Law Enforcement?
Law enforcement is a unique profession. Police are granted broader authority and responsibility than
any other government institution.
• Police are given the responsibility for making life and-death decisions.
• They also have legal authority to exercise power and control over the public.
• such power must be tempered by high ethical standards.
Leadership Ethics and Social Responsibility:
• Key principles of ethical leadership

1. Be honest and trustworthy and have integrity in dealing with others

2. Pay attention to all stakeholders
3. Build community
4. Respect the individual
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND ETHICAL ORGANIZATION
*Differences in ethics and morality can be traced to 8 factors :
• (1) leader's level of greed, gluttony, and avarice;(maximizing personal returns at the expense of
others)
• (2) rationalization; ( focusing on the intent of action vs. action itself)
• (3) implied permission; ("Nobody is telling me to stop, so it must be OK.“)
• (4) person’s level of moral development;
• (5) sense of entitlement; (feeling of privilege to receive whatever you can get/steal)
• (6) situational influences; (defined by the organization culture)
• (7) a person’s character ( the higher the quality of a person's character, the more ethical they
will be)
• (8) Motivated blindness (seeing only what we want to see, resulting in conflict of interest)
 Leaders should seek answers to a series of important questions before reaching a decision about
an issue that is not clearly either ethical or unethical.
 Unethical behaviors have had detrimental effects on many companies.
 Leaders can encourage ethical behavior by promoting social responsibility.
 Ethical behavior is related to financial performance.
Factors Contributing to Ethical Differences
Cognitive and educational psychologist Howard Gardner believes that for a leaders to stay ethical he
or she must develop and ethical mind.
• Ethical mind is a point of view that helps the individual aspire to good work that matters to their
colleagues, companies and society in general.
Ways for a leader to develop an ethical mind:
• Believe that retaining an ethical compass is essential to the health of the organization
• State their ethical beliefs and stick to them
• Take rigorous self-test to make sure values are being adhered to
• Set aside the time to reflect on beliefs to help maintain ethical focus
• Act quickly on unethical behavior of others
Ethical Minds for Leaders
Ethics:
• The study of moral obligations, or of separating right from wrong plural noun) The accepted
guidelines of behavior for groups or institutions
Morals:
• An individual's determination of what is right or wrong
• Influenced by person's values
Values:
• Tied closely to ethics because ethics become the vehicle for converting values--> action
Ethical Leadership
• As we have learned, ethical conduct in law enforcement is critical. Leaders within law
enforcement agencies play a significant role in determining the ethical orientation of their
agency. Specifically, leaders must regard ethics as a key component of the agency’s culture in
which officers behave ethically and respect the rights of others. This can only be accomplished
by leaders demonstrating ethical actions to all members of the agency.
• Incorporate agency values or ideals through mission statements. Mission statements are a tool
agencies can use to explicitly state their values for all to see. Some agencies develop mission
statements and present them to their workers who sign a confirmation that they hold the same
values as the agency and will adopt the values stated in the mission statement. The
confirmation is strictly symbolic in nature, but it can be a powerful reminder of the values that
are important.
• Focus on ethical behaviour as part of formal events and training sessions. Ethical behaviour
should be woven throughout all training and stated in lesson plans. Leaders should not assume
that ethical decisions are made, but rather they should remind and train members that ethical
considerations are a critical component of their daily business activities.
• Emphasize ethical behaviour in the agency’s philosophy. The agency must reflect ethics in all
policies and philosophies. In law enforcement, agencies must be aware of the problems that
arise when crime control models are too closely adhered to at the expense of ethical behaviour.
 • Do not tolerate any unethical activities, including unethical behaviour at the executive level. This
means that agencies should consider a policy of zero tolerance for any unethical activity by
executives. Agencies should consider universality as a test for executives: assessing the ethics
of the behaviour by assessing whether the behaviour would be appropriate for every member of
the agency.
• Police officers and social workers have a long-standing history of working together to ensure
the safety of communities and their residents. ... They assist in maintaining the welfare of
citizens by monitoring community health and safety issues and intervening on a social level.
Police Officers and Social Workers: A History of Collaboration
Police officers have traditionally worked with social workers and provided social services
themselves as part of their regular responsibilities. A large part of community policing involves
coordination between police departments and skilled social workers to prevent and intervene
against epidemics and other issues detrimental to the peace and safety of community
residents.
Challenges of Police Taking On Social Work Duties
Implementing social service work in police departments is challenging because of the perceived
role of a police officer. Many officers perceive their main function to be law enforcement and
crime prevention. The majority of police academy training focuses on crime fighting, criminal
law, defensive tactics, and weaponry skills; however, many of police officers’ day-to-day tasks
are related to social services. Police officers spend the majority of their time on the job resolving
conflicts, responding to family disputes, and providing other services to community residents.
In order to improve the social work skills of police officers, law enforcement academies and
police departments must include social services as part of their training programs.
Communication, mediation, conflict resolution, intervention strategies, and how to recognize
signs of mental illness and drug addiction are a few of the topics that training programs must
emphasize to prepare police officers for the social work aspect of their job. For example, a
thorough understanding of the network of mental health services within a community will aid
police officers in providing mentally ill residents with the support they need to function in society
and keep them out of the criminal justice system.