Drawing a line on truth telling

The Albuquerque Police Department is re-drawing the line on truth telling.  More specifically, they are re-drawing the consequences for not telling the truth.

In fundamental sense they are the same, when you adjust the line on one, the line on the other moves in pursuit.  Lessen the consequence for misconduct, increase the number and frequency; it's human nature.

Something is said about how one regards misconduct, in the consequences they provide for engaging in it.  One of the reasons there are greater consequences for murder than shoplifting, is to send the message that we take murder more seriously than shoplifting.

There are those who believe that lying is like all other misconduct in that there are degrees of lying.  There are not.  A statement purported to be the truth is either the truth, or it is a lie.  Beyond that, there are of  course varying degrees of consequences according the "seriousness" of the lie - whatever that means.

There are people, in particular a lot of young people, who think a lie is a "white lie" according to its seriousness according to the liar.  In effect, it is alright to lie about little things.  Those are not white lies.

A lie is a white lie when it is told for the benefit of someone other than the liar.  Telling your grandmother her less than wonderful pumpkin pie was wonderful, could be a white lie.  Lying about stealing as little as one penny is not.

When I was teaching Character Counts! to APS middle-school students, the message was; trustworthiness was unique among the Pillars of CC! in its either/or-ness.

In fairness for example; you might observe that someone behaves more fairly at some times than at others.  They might be more caring, respectful, responsible, or better citizens on some days than on others.  You can imagine someone being more or less fair, caring, responsible, respectful, or a good citizen.

There is no such person as "kind of" trustworthy, or "mostly" trustworthy.  A person who cannot be trusted all of the time, cannot be trusted any of the time. A person showing  themselves to be unworthy of trust one day, are just as unworthy of trust the next.

As an aside; it is possible to repair trustworthiness, but its requires unique circumstances; real temptation and testing of the moral courage necessary to overcome it.  Those circumstances may occur tomorrow; they may never occur.  That's why it is so critically important to protect one's trustworthiness.

Nowhere is it more important to draw the line on lying, than in teaching children where that line is.  Nowhere is it more important to draw the line on lying, than in schools.

With the drawing of the line, comes the responsibilities of role models to toe that line; to show students what it looks like to hold oneself honestly accountable to the standard.  The importance of the concept is underscored in the relentless retelling of a fable about George Washington's manifest courage in holding himself accountable to standards of conduct which require telling the truth.

Telling the truth is different from not lying.  The lowest standards of conduct prohibit lying.  Any highers standards of conduct, require telling the truth as their fundamental premise.

The leadership of the APS wants to hide the truth.  They need to hide the truth.  Their very survival depends upon hiding the truth.  They cannot survive the telling of the truth about the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.  They are doing everything they can to avoid being held accountable to any standard of conduct that requires telling the truth to stakeholders.

They have gone so far in that respect, as to abdicate from their duty as role models by removing the role modeling clause from  their own standards of conduct.  It once read;

In no case shall the standards of conduct for an adult,
be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

The Journal thinks APD's adjustment of consequences is newsworthy, link, but finds the utter abandonment of truth telling standards by the leadership of the APS, is not.

Why is truth telling important in the APD, but not the APS?

It's almost like the Journal is covering for APS School Board President Marty Esquivel, former board member David Robbins, Supt Winston Brooks, Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta, Director of Communications Rigo Chavez, and APS Police Chief Steve Tellez.

Almost like?




photo Mark Bralley