People are quick to say that ethical matters are not always black and white, but often gray. My counter is that I don’t think it’s a matter of grayness. Grayness is just our lack of information or our lack of understanding of the underlying ethical principles.
It’s like looking at a black and white photograph in a newspaper. At first glance, there appears to be a lot of gray. But pull out a magnifying glass and look closer. What do you see? A bunch of black dots on a white background. So what appears to be gray on the surface is really just black and white when we analyze it more closely.
Ethical situations can be a lot like the photo. We sometimes have to pull out our “ethical magnifying glass” if we are to see and understand the underlying principles more effectively. Once we can bring the black and white into focus, our ethical decisions become easier.
I was reminded of this principle earlier today when I read a post by Jack Marshall on the Ethics Alarm Blog Site (an excellent resource for ethics-based leadership, by the way). Police Dynamics and the principles of good character help us to keep that magnifying glass polished so we can make better ethical decisions.
Making the decision to retire after serving three terms as the Sheriff in Dorchester County, SC was a difficult one. But I had my time in and my wife and I felt like we should move on to other challenges. It didn’t take me long to find one!
One week after my retirement, I found myself in Sierra Leone, a small country in West Africa. I had been requested by the City Manager of Freetown to present Police Dynamics training to their National Police and Military. So I spent two weeks in this fascinating country that has been ravaged by unimaginable atrocities during a decade of civil unrest due to the conflict diamond trade (watch the movie Blood Diamond and you’ll see what I mean).
By and large, the police are feared by the populace and corruption is a way of life. The leaders there are in the process of rebuilding the government and realize just how important good character is to regaining the trust of the citizens.
One of the attendees, an Inspector named Gusman, had this to say during the closing ceremony to the Mayor of Freetown and members of the City Council:
His comments:
This course will have a profound impact on our professional lives. This course has taught us how bad character will not enable us to achieve our organizational goals…
We have learned that if we become good officers, if we respect our people, if we discharge our duties responsibly, without fear or favor, we will earn the respect of the citizens of this country. They also taught us certain principles about forgiveness, about patience, that we might take to our homes to teach our wives and our children so that collectively all of us will become responsible citizens…
I am very grateful on behalf of our police, to the City Council, and to the Police Dynamics Institute for this effort. I am sure, when we get back to our various institutions, we will share this knowledge that we have learned…
I think Gusman got the message and nicely summed up what Police Dynamics is all about…
Fighting crime is much like a game of chess. Imagine that your jurisdiction is a giant chess board where a war of sorts is being waged. Just like in a real war, or a real game of chess, our opponents (the criminals) are trying to take ground.
When they become entrenched in a neighborhood and rule through fear and intimidation, they have established a criminal stronghold. From here, criminals will branch out into other neighborhoods, commit their evil deeds, and retreat back into the safety of the stronghold.
There are several strategies the we as police administrators might employ to deal with this community problem. One is the Reactive Model of policing. We can assign police officers to patrol the other neighborhoods, hoping that we might stumble across some criminal in the act of committing a crime, or discourage one from doing so by our “presence” in the neighborhood. As the saying goes, I suppose even a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and then. But this proves to be a very ineffective crime fighting strategy and a poor use of our limited law enforcement resources.
The community policing or coactive policing model dictates that law enforcement must penetrate the stronghold to destroy the fear, apathy, and tolerance for crime that the criminals are relying on. Building trust based relationships through the power of good character is the key to this process. This is the truly effective crime-fighting strategy that we explore here.
An obituary sent to me by a friend that requires no further comment:
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair; and
- Maybe it WAS my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place:
- Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate;
- Teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch;
- A teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sunscreen or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death
- by his parents, Truth and Trust;
- by his wife, Discretion;
- by his daughter, Responsibility and
- by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:
- I Know My Rights
- I Want It Now
- Someone Else Is To Blame
- I am a Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone…
Jefferson made this famous quote in a letter to his daughter, Martha, on May 5, 1787. It speaks to the character quality of Diligence.
The definition we use from the Character Training Institute is:
The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, understood the importance of diligence:
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings…
The law enforcement officer who is operating out from under authority will often lead the police department in citizen complaints. The Independent Spirit that he or she demonstrates when interacting with the public can generate a reaction on the part of the citizen, which can in turn generate a complaint on the officer. I have been in police administration for a long time and I have seen this scenario played out over and over.
An officer that maintains his or her composure under pressure, on the other hand, demonstrates the type of character that builds public trust in our relationship with the citizens. This is the highest ideal of law enforcement: to bring peace out of disorder.
Dr. George Thompson brings this out in his tactical communications course, Verbal Judo. He emphasizes the importance of controlling the tongue. In fact, one of the dynamics in Series 2 (the Dynamic of Compliance) is based on Dr. George Thompson’s teachings.
This historic quote came from John Adams’ summation to the jury during the trial of the British soldiers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre. Adams was actually representing the soldiers.
I was reminded of his quote when I read a post on the Ethics Alarms blog, a site by John Marshall that I refer to frequently for excellent commentary and insights on ethical issues. There is also an excellent treatise on the ethical dilemmas faced by Adams during the trial posted at the Legal Ethics Forum.
This quote about the stubborn nature of facts reminds me of the working definition of Truthfulness as defined by the Character Training Institute:
Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts.
Facts are indeed stubborn, but they can be reported inaccurately. It is even possible to technically tell the truth and still be deceptive by the way in which we “spin” the facts.
However, someone with a reputation for accurately reporting facts, especially if they are willing to tell the truth to their own hurt, pumps huge amounts of trust into any relationship. And as our Coactivity Maxim states:
The power for effective change rests within our relationships…
You are going to LOVE this short video by Kim Alyn! I first met Kim when she conducted a training conference for the SC Sheriff’s Association a few years ago while I was still in office. I was most impressed by her enthusiasm, commitment to character, and lively presentation. Her message is dead on and exactly in line with the character-based principles of Police Dynamics.
This Up Time! video is just awesome. It is very clever and right on point. I know you will enjoy it. You can learn more about Kim at the Kimberly Alyn website.
I know what you’re thinking: “It’s already March 12. Why is Nash just now posting the Character Quality of the Month?” Hey, I was in Cancun! Give me a break…!
Here’s a great working definition of Tolerance from the Character Training Institute in Oklahoma City:
“Realizing that everyone is at varying levels of character development.”
When you take the time to think about it, this definition really makes sense. We are all works in progress. Hopefully we are progressing to better character, not worse…
We call character definitions like this “working definitions” because they can be used in the workplace to identify and commend observable behaviors that result from good character. A wise supervisor, or a wise parent, can use definitions like this to make the “character connection.” This is a huge paradigm shift because it forces you to focus on the character quality that produced the achievement (the seed) rather than on the achievement itself (the fruit).
It is a fundamental maxim of character development that if you focus on achievement to the exclusion of character, you actually encourage bad character. I examine this concept in more depth in the training videos “The Law of the Harvest“, “Character v. Achievement“, and “Making the Character Connection“.
Although this site is designed primarily for police, the principles are timeless and universal and can apply to virtually any relationship. The 49 Character Qualities as defined by the Character Training Institute provide a powerful tool for any leader…
Sheriff Ray Nash
