What is ethics and how does it apply to a fire chief? The American College Dictionary defines ethics as: 1] The rules of conduct recognized to a particular class of human actions, i.e. medical ethics; 2] Moral principles, as an individual dealing with morals or the principles of morality.

Ethics, therefore, can be a set of rules observed voluntarily by individuals actively involved in a certain profession such as law, medicine or public administration. Feelings of respect for a profession come from the perceived universal adherence to these ethical standards of conduct toward individuals.

The article “What is Ethics?” by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks and Michael J. Meyer, conversely defines what ethics isn't. It quotes a study by sociologist Raymond Baumhart in which he asked typical business people the question, “What does ethics mean to you?” Among the answers were:

• Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.
• Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.
• Being ethical is doing what the law requires.
• Ethics consists of a set of standards of behavior our society accepts.
• I don't know what the word means. The authors then debunk each statement:
• While religion can foster a high standard of conduct, the two are not synonymous. Otherwise only religious people could be ethical.
• Feelings can cause us to avoid or even abhor making a tough decision for what is right versus what might make us feel better.
• The law can frequently be in conflict with what is ethical. For example, slavery was once legal in many countries, but at no time being legal made it ethical to impugn another's freedom.
• Whatever society accepts could be a very slippery slope of conduct. Consider the ethnic cleansings that have occurred recently in Darfur, Bosnia, Cambodia and dozens of other locations in the past 25 years. Likewise if society set the standard of ethics, would we all have to vote on what is ethical?

Again according to the article's authors, ethics is a firmly based standard of right and wrong that guides what we, as human beings, ought to do. Ethical standards include honesty, compassion, loyalty and belief in the rights of an individual. The development of ethics in each of us includes our own continuous evaluation of our moral belief and conduct and our ability to ensure that we and the institutions we shape uphold standards of conduct that are solidly based.

Firefighters look to their chiefs for both leadership and integrity. If we believe that the fire service is a true profession, then the fire chief must set and adhere to the standard of personal and professional conduct. But some chiefs have failed the ethics test.

For instance, a chief became aware that one of his male officers was having an affair with a female subordinate during her probation while both were on duty. Because the officer was a close friend, the chief chose not to investigate the allegation, which was presented to him by a small group of concerned members. The chief not only exposed his city and department to the serious possibility of a sexual-harassment suit, but as the allegations became more widely known due to the subordinate's pregnancy, the chief also lost his ability to lead his department. He subsequently retired.

How could this chief have handled the situation better? If he were indeed personally too close to the accused, could he have appointed another chief officer or asked a chief or department head from another municipal department to investigate, or at least sought input from the city manager on an outside party who might be skilled enough to do so.

Another example occurred when a department placed repeated orders for fire equipment from a manufacturer who regularly entertained chiefs not only during trips to the plant, but also at conferences and on outside sports trips. The department and the manufacturer became embroiled on the acceptability of a new truck, and during its rebuttal the manufacturer produced an itemized account of the times, places and dollars spent for the chief's entertainment. The expenses became an embarrassment to the chief, the city and the department.

This chief learned the need to keep his business and social affairs separate to avoid the appearance of impropriety, even when other chiefs took advantage of the freebies. Does your city or state have a limit on what or much value can be accepted as a gift? Certainly adherence to such guidelines would have saved this chief from having to explain these actions.

Yet another example involves the chief of a combination department who outfitted his personal car with new tires at the expense of the tax-exempt fire department. A routine state audit uncovered this expense, and the chief replied that he used his personal car to make emergency responses. He was ordered not only to pay back the cost of the tires, but the state auditor referred the case to the county prosecutor for possible charges.

Many chiefs, especially those of smaller departments, receive little or no compensation. This chief rationalized that the fire district and department “owed” him something for his work and used the equipment funds for personal benefit. The chief had to leave the department following the charges and he had to serve many hours of community service. The department's reputation suffered. Eventually it merged with another district to gain new leadership.

The final example is more common than we'd like to believe. A chief's chain of command placed him reporting directly to a high-ranking politician who had won the election in part from contributions and support from a business that had regular fire code issues. After taking office, the politician requested that the chief grant a variance to the fire code for this business during its expansion. The chief refused, citing the potential dangers this would create to the public; he was soon replaced. He not only found a chief's position quickly in another venue, but more importantly he kept his integrity and the respect of his personnel by sticking to this ethical decision.

The politician served only one term in office and the new administration replaced the interim chief with a progressive chief who brought the department back to its former prestige.

While these might be extreme examples, one wise mentor of mine once said, “If it can't be aired on 60 Minutes for everyone to see, then don't do it.”

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Chief Robert R. Rielage, CFO, EFO, MIFireE, is the chief of Wyoming (Ohio) Fire — EMS, a 78-member full-service combination fire department bordering Cincinnati. He previously served under as the fire marshal of the state of Ohio and was a member of the Ohio Security Task Force and a delegate to the National Governor's Association for Homeland Security. A graduate of the Kennedy School's Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University, Rielage holds a master's degree in public administration from Norwich University and is the immediate past-president of the Institution of Fire Engineers — USA Branch.

A Chief's Code

• Recognize that we serve in a position of public trust that imposes responsibility to use publicly owned resources effectively and judiciously.
• Do not use a public position to obtain advantages or favors for friends, family, personal business ventures or ourselves.
• Use information gained from our positions only for the benefit of those we are entrusted to serve.
• Conduct our personal affairs in such a manner that we cannot be improperly influenced in the performance of our duties.
• Avoid situations whereby our decisions or influence may have an impact on personal financial interests.
• Seek no favor and accept no form of personal reward for influence or official action.
• Engage in no outside employment or professional activities that may impair or appear to impair our primary responsibilities as fire officials.
• Comply with local laws and campaign rules when supporting political candidates and engaging in political activities.
• Handle all personnel matters on the basis of merit.
• Carry out policies established by elected officials and policy makers to the best of our ability.
• Refrain from financial investments or business that conflicts with or is enhanced by our official position.
• Refrain from endorsing commercial products through quotations, use of photographs or testimonials, for personal gain.
• Develop job descriptions and guidelines at the local level to produce behaviors in accordance with the code of ethics.
• Conduct training at the local level to inform and educate local personnel about ethical conduct and policies and procedures.
• Have systems in place at the local level to resolve ethical issues.
• Orient new employees to the organization's ethics program during new employee orientation.
• Review the ethics management program in management training experiences.
• Deliver accurate and timely information to the public and to elected policymakers to use when deciding critical issues.
  — International Association of Fire Chiefs