Ethical Considerations in Shaping the Police Force

A s i a n B i o e t h i c s R e v i e w M a r c h 2 0 0 9 Vo l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1 56 Ethical Considerations in Shaping the Police Force For this commentary, I will make use of the six-step ethical framework proposed by Nancy Kass,1 which targets interventions designed to promote public health, and appears to be useful in evaluating the ethical concerns pertinent to the case at hand. The first step is to identify the proposed goals of the programme. There are two goals that are mentioned in the case. One is to improve the competence of the police members in the physical demands of their work. The other goal is to reinvent the public image of a police force, known for its pot-bellied members associated with corruption, by trimming down their waistlines. While it is important to relate the evaluation of a public health intervention to its objectives, one must observe that the mandatory fitness campaign described in the case is primarily directed at improving the performance of the police force and its public image — two concerns that do not usually have something to do with public health. If at all, any effect of the programme on the state of public health could only be incidental. Nevertheless, the means chosen to try to achieve the goals were in the nature of a public health intervention and it is for this reason that it makes good sense to test the applicability of an ethical framework to evaluate the activities required. Moreover, the specific methods mentioned were aimed at a public health outcome, for the members of the force, considered necessary as intermediate means to achieve the ultimate goals. The second step in the ethical framework is to determine the effectiveness of the proposed programme in achieving its goals. The case does not provide data on the programme’s success,2 but even assuming that it was successful in the short term (because of deadlines for achieving certain end points), one must look at the sustainability of both the aims related to effective police work as well as C A S E C O M M E N T A R Y 56–58 Asian Bioethics Review March 2009 Volume 1, Issue 1 57 E t h i c a l C o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n S h a p i n g t h e P o l i c e F o r c e S a r a h J a n e To l e d a n o the intermediate public health ends. The goal of improving physical condition appears to justify the mandatory institutional design of the campaign requiring harsh punishment. This seems to be consistent with rigid disciplinary standards in the implementation of police work. It might be seen as being too imposing on its members but that is what effective police work requires. The goal of correcting the public image of the pot-bellied, corrupt police officer raises other issues that relate also to the intermediate public health goal. In this case, the discrimination and stigma often associated with obesity are complicated by public impressions of having an obese physique as an indicator of negative moral character. The amount of publicity surrounding the fitness campaign tends to generate harmful side-effects that outweigh the benefits relating to the outcome it seeks to achieve. The fat-trimming campaign could not guarantee moral transformation. Corruption and bribery can still exist among physically fit police officers. Operation Pot Belly can hardly correct this or change the public’s impressions of the policeman. The fit and trim can still be a corrupt police officer. In the meantime, the publicity is sure to add to the discrimination and stigma associated with being obese. The third and fourth steps of Kass’ framework consist of identifying the potential burdens of the programme and then determining the approaches to minimise them. The evaluation of the side-effects mentioned in the previous paragraph relate partly to these...