Police captain at Florida Atlantic University resigned amid sex allegations
Dr. Kardasz -
Read the following report and consider:
1. Which typology of unethical behavior was exhibited by the accused?
2. Which decision making process might have prevented the accused from making the wrong decision?
Typologies of unethical behavior - http://kardasz.org/CorruptionTypologies.html
Decision making processes - http://kardasz.org/Decision_Making_Tools.html
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Police captain at Florida Atlantic University resigned amid sex allegations
By Stephanie Slater, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, August 11, 2006
Boca Raton, Florida — A Florida Atlantic University police captain resigned amid allegations he had on-duty sex with a student and pornographic images and e-mails on his department-issued cellphone and two computers.
Capt. Carl "Chuck" Aurin, 45, also kept in a locked file cabinet a video of him engaging in sex with a student, FAU Police Chief Bill Ferrell said. Ferrell said that Aurin's March 30 resignation stemmed from a separate complaint into possible ethical violations, but he would not elaborate. While the department looked into the ethics allegations, Aurin, who had been supervising the investigative and internal affairs divisions, was reassigned to oversee the shift commanders. On March 15, Aurin returned his Nextel BlackBerry phone and the keys to his office and unmarked patrol car. Two days later, Ferrell noticed that the BlackBerry was receiving a "high volume" of pornographic spam e-mail, according to an internal affairs investigation.
Deputy Chief Derrick Charleston then searched Aurin's patrol car and found a burgundy sketchbook containing sexually explicit messages and drawings about the captain's encounters with the student, which reportedly took place while he was patrolling the university's Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale campuses. While searching Aurin's office, Charleston found pornographic movies and pictures on two computers. They were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to determine whether any of the material was criminal. Analysts found nothing illegal, Ferrell said, adding that all police laptops now have software that monitors for inappropriate Web sites. When Ferrell met with Aurin to discuss the findings, the captain immediately resigned. That same day, Aurin wrote in a letter to the chief that he resigned "with a heavy heart... due to personal reasons." Aurin, who on his Myspace.com profile describes himself as "hardcore but cuddly," joined FAU's police force in 1992. Neither he nor his attorney returned calls for comment.
There is no policy at FAU prohibiting fraternization among employees, but there are ethical rules that prohibit relationships between employees and their bosses, President Frank Brogan said, adding that it is an ethical violation for professors to have sex with students. There is no police department policy banning officers from having relationships with other officers or students, Ferrell said. The thing I preach is that what you do outside the police department is your business, and you keep your business outside the police department, " Ferrell said.
Aurin was never questioned during the internal affairs investigation, which concluded as soon as he resigned, the report shows. Ferrell said he has no plans to send his findings FDLE's Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, a 19-member panel of representatives from law enforcement agencies that could revoke Aurin's certification. "He never got the opportunity to speak his side because he resigned. I have no idea what he was going to admit or deny," Ferrell said. FDLE's records indicate that Aurin resigned but do not reflect the reason, spokesman Tom Berlinger said. "When a law enforcement officer leaves in the midst of an internal affairs investigation, the agency has an obligation to complete the investigation and report its findings to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission," Berlinger said. "If that did not occur, I have no doubt that commission staff will be contacting the chief about Captain Aurin's departure."
Ferrell, a former Florida Highway Patrol lieutenant who became FAU's police chief in January, is cleaning up a department that Brogan said "has gone through some difficult times" — namely, sexual misconduct allegations. He replaced former Chief Dolores Danser, who was dismissed in June 2005 at the start of an internal probe that found that a police lieutenant sexually harassed three women the agency employed. Lt. Darren Kirch had sex with a female officer at a Boca Raton park after her first day of work, had a three-month affair with another subordinate and flirted while on duty with a third officer, the investigation concluded. Kirch resigned June 8, 2005. "It's so far behind us," Ferrell said. "I'm very aggressive toward making sure the image of the police department is not destroyed." Ferrell said he gave all 42 sworn officers a copy of the agency's code of ethics and explained the serious nature of violating ethical rules. "When there's issues in the police department that could be perceived to bring or slow us down, we deal with it," Ferrell said. "And if it means that the person has to leave, they're gone."
Staff writer Kim Miller and staff researcher Melanie Mena contributed to this story.
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