If You Lie, You Die

This article pertains to every person SEBA represents, but I am going to direct it towards the Sheriff’s Department members.

As a peace officer all of you had to learn the “Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.” In that code is a line that states, “Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my Department.” This is probably one of the most important things you should remember.

Anyone who I have represented knows one of the first things I say is, “Tell the truth, if you lie you die.” If you have violated a policy or procedure and you tell the truth chances are the violation does not reach the level of termination. If you violated a policy or procedure and you lie about it, chances are you will be terminated for it. 

Truthfulness also applies in your written documents. This applies to memos, reports, time sheets, room check logs and anything else you document. If you are not truthful in any of these you can also be terminated.

The Sheriff’s Department truthfulness policy states that no member shall willfully depart from the truth orally, or in writing, when giving testimony in a court of law, when preparing criminal or administrative reports/documents, or in any matter under investigation by the Department or any other law enforcement agency.

The Integrity policy states, in part, that the public demands that the integrity of its law enforcement employees be above reproach. The dishonesty of a single employee may impair public confidence and cast suspicion upon the entire department.

This is very clear, “You lie you die.”

As a peace officer your credibility is everything. If you have a sustained dishonesty you are not a credible witness when testifying in court. The District Attorney’s office will put you on their “Brady” list. This means anytime you file a criminal report the Deputy District Attorney assigned to the case has to disclose to the defense attorney that you are a “Brady Cop” and your credibility is shot. 

Remember, even little white lies can hurt you. The one thing to remember here is very simple, tell the truth. You are better off taking the discipline for your conduct then making up a story. You can overcome the discipline in time, but like I said before, you will not survive a sustained charge of dishonesty. 

There is one caveat to this, if your conduct/misconduct is criminal in nature or so egregious, you can still be terminated for that conduct.  I don’t want to mislead you by saying you can never be terminated if you just tell the truth, but your chances are better if you do.

If you have any questions please contact SEBA.