Ethics for the Public Service Professional, 2nd Edition

Headlines of public service corruption scandals are painful reminders of the need for continuing education in the subjects of ethics and integrity. Public service professionals employed as government officials, forensic scientists, investigators, first responders, and those within the legal and justice systems, face daily decisions that can mean the difference between life or death and freedom or imprisonment. Sometimes, such decisions can present ethical dilemmas even to the most seasoned of professionals.


Building on the success of the first edition, Ethics for the Public Service Professional, Second Edition serves as a single-source resource for the topic of ethics and ethical decision making as it relates to government service. While incorporating an examination of the history of ethics, codes and legislation, the book exposes the reader to the challenges faced by today’s public service professionals and administrators in incorporating ethics within daily decisions, procedures, and duties.

Key features include:

Current controversies in police, forensic, and other public service sectors including: racial profiling, evidence tampering, disaster response, and audits
Important new mechanisms of accountability, including use-of-force reporting, citizen complaint procedures, and open government
Contemporary news stories throughout the book introduce the reader to a broad range of ethical issues facing leaders within the public service workplace
Chapter pedagogy including key terms, learning objectives, end-of-chapter questions, a variety of boxed ethical case examples, and references
Ripped from the Headlines current event examples demonstrate actual scenarios involving the issues discussed within each chapter
This in-depth text will be essential for the foundational development and explanation of protocols used within a successful organization. As such, Ethics for the Public Service Professional, Second Edition will help introduce ethics and ethical decision-making to both those new to the realm of forensic science, criminal justice, and emergency services and those already working in the field.