BY BOBBY HALTON
The term ethics has been defined as a system of moral principles, as in the ethics of a culture. It is also recognized as the accepted rules of conduct for a particular group. When someone speaks of the “ethics of a culture,” the reference is to the culture’s moral principles and values.
Ethics is also an avenue of study in philosophy, dealing with the values related to human behavior. Philosophers studying ethics would be concerned about how a behavior is viewed—good or bad, right or wrong—in relation to the values and principles expressed by a particular group or organization. To be sure, adherence to higher ethical behavior and principles has defined the fire service for its 200-plus-year history.
The question has recently arisen: Do the ethics of the fire service need to be reinforced or perhaps defined and recommitted to by the current practitioners of the art of firefighting? With the proliferation of the Internet, the presence of cameras everywhere, and the increasing interest in our profession by people who like us and who don’t like us, our behavior and its occasional contradiction to our values and principles are coming under closer scrutiny. Occasionally, firefighters, like all people, make mistakes. It has been said that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. In the past, a minor indiscretion by a company or a firefighter could be kept within the local system. With the Internet, even minor indiscretions can become known worldwide in an instant, ending promising careers in the court of public opinion.
We have seen on videos firefighters engaged in pranks, which, in hindsight, they probably would not have done. An example of these pranks includes duct taping a fellow firefighter to a chair and then using a compressed air cylinder to spin the chair out of control. Stupid? Yes. Dangerous? Yes. However, considering it an ethics violation is a stretch.
On the other hand, inspectors found to be padding mileage reports under the specific direction of their superiors is a different story. This is clearly stealing, an ethical violation. The citizens implicitly trust the firefighters who serve them. Any blemish on this trust, like intentionally stealing money, is a major hit to our reputations.
On the issue of firefighters behaving badly, we can all list dozens of stupid and irresponsible behaviors, most of which were harmless and goofy and resulted in no damage to our reputations or credibility. These behaviors include taking risky pictures with girlfriends and others and eating meals in places with less than stellar reputations; they are dumb but not unethical.
Unfortunately on the issue of our behaving unethically, we can also list a lot of cases: firefighters paying others to work for them and not reporting the money, income tax evasion, claiming physical disability and then winning body-building contests, and working physically demanding jobs under the table—unethical and illegal.
In an attempt to provide some education and guidance on the ethics issue, some fire service leaders are publishing a Fire Service Ethics Statement. The draft is several pages and lists a multitude of behaviors the authors consider unethical. It is an extremely noble and worthy endeavor and one we support, but we should also have a simple and recurring reminder of our basic ethical commitments.
We should teach Fire Service Ethical Behavior to our recruits and reinforce it in our officer schools. The draft currently being reviewed could be well-suited as mandatory reading for recruits and officers. The proposed ethics statement will serve well as a foundation for a class on ethical behavior, and widespread adoption and internalization will do much to remind us of why we serve and what is expected of those who serve.
The United States Military Academy recognized the need for a code, a way to keep higher ethical behavior as the norm for its charges, our future military officers. West Point’s Cadet Honor Code reads simply, “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” Cadets accused of violating the Honor Code face severe consequences, up to and including expulsion from the Academy.
The U.S. Air Force Academy Honor Code is similar to that of West Point, but it also incorporates an Honor Oath: “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.” Simple and clear. Could we include this brief honor statement in our appointment oaths? Could we include it in our promotional oaths? Perhaps we could recite it at our major event gatherings such as the main program at FDIC and other fire service events.
If we look at the issues, do we have everything covered with this simple oath? Stealing is stealing; the excuse that you were told to do so does not exonerate you. Taking pension money you have not earned by your lack of presence is stealing; taking property you didn’t earn is stealing. Not claiming income is lying; falsifying any document is lying, so that is covered.
Cheating is more interesting. Perhaps we could cheat in assessment centers or on other tests. We are cheating the public when we claim an injury prevents us from doing our job when it does not; then, we steal by taking the public’s money.
The fire service will be a better place when we no longer “tolerate others who do.” We have for too long accepted a culture of looking the other way when “others did.” We didn’t want to be rats. But if we tolerate a behavior, aren’t we condoning it? You would speak up if someone stole $20 out of your partner’s locker, so why shouldn’t we speak up when someone steals from the pension fund or the public we swore to protect?
The honor oath is critical: “Do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.” We can all memorize this Fire Service Honor Code and Oath, and live it. Arguably, 99.9 percent of us already do.
