Chapter 2 I am Second: Ethical Leadership and Self-Denial

As public employees, police leadership needs to be able to deal with the wealthy and powerful as well as the impoverished. Police Chiefs must work within the ethical framework of three diverse goals: responsiveness to the public, loyalty to the government they serve, and personal considerations of the individual and the employees. These goals can provide an environment in which leaders can sacrifice ethical principles for self-enrichment. For the overwhelming majority of non-elected public officials who genuinely wish to do the right thing, the high road of ethical aspiration can be obscure and difficult to travel. Police Leaders must model ethical behavior for their employees, gaining the trust and respect of the public. When confronting the opportunities of self-enrichment that shall be offered them, they must deny themselves, in favor of the ethical canons they preach to their subordinates. Self-enrichment often leads to unethical and illegal behavior, which destroys the ethical framework police leaders are sworn to uphold.