Ethics outside the office

[Whisler]

This thread was inspired by this months incident in Wichita Falls, Tx by an Officer who was indefinitely suspended from his job when some believe he crossed the line in his personal 'on-line' life.

Despite the fact that this was brought upon by an officers actions, these are issues that can be directed to most of us who are brought to this web page by our bond of professionalism in each of our own disciplines.

In the Wichita Falls case, the controversy consisted of an officers use of his MySpace.com webpage for the display of offensive materials. These were not sexually oriented or explicit, or confidential material, and are not believed to have happened while on-duty. In this case the officer was expressing his infatuation under his alias by logging into MySpace with his username of Leatherface. His webpage included images of dismembered women, one of which displayed the word "loath" carved in a womans flesh. His occupation listed himself as "Super Hero/Serial Killer".

Being a strong believer in Sir Robert Peel and his principles in community policing and ethics, I agree with the indefinite suspension. Wichita Falls Police based the suspension on Civil Service violations, which is being appealed by the officer based on his belief that the punishment is too excessive.

Wichita Falls Police Chief Dennis Bachman was quoted as saying the public "always tends to hold their officers and firemen to a higher standard whether right or wrong". The 26 year old officer in this case, who has no prior disciplinary record, said the webpage was meant to be humorous, which doesn't help him out from my perspective.

Here's my opinion: If the officer believes the suspension is too excessive, then it leads me to believe he thinks his webpage is not that out-of-line. There's obviously some differences in our moral values. I am also a Texas Police Officer and I took the same Oath of Office he did. The 2nd paragraph of that Oath states: "I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all". Unsullied is defined as "spotlessly clean and fresh". That line was crossed; good call by Wichita Falls Administration. Enough of this case, lets move on to the moral of the story.

I'm not well versed on the defining characteristics of a "Profession", but I believe they all have (or should have) some sort of enforceable Oath or Code of Ethics, however I think the Defense Attorney's Association uses a pencil for their Oath (joke). Actually the Wichita Falls Officer was uncovered by a Defense Attorney whose client had been arrested by "Leatherface".

I just thought this might be provoking thought as to our Oaths and obligations that we chose to accept. This is a good time for each of us to review our Oath, read it, and see if we measure up to it.....from the publics view, as they are the ones we serve.

I'm not trying to point out others faults. My Department has had egg on its face a time or two (or three, or four....) A smart man learns from their mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

[Pat A. Wertheim]

I agree that suspension is reasonable during an investigation. If it is proven that the officer in question is "Leatherface" and especially if any of the photographs he displayed were official police photographs, then making the suspension indefinite seems also appropriate. There are some positions in life that should only be held by people whom our children should be able to hold as role models in life. Police officer is one of those positions. If you would not want your child looking up to him as a hero, then he shouldn't be a cop. Period.