Who is ethical, who isn’t? It’s a question that as an ethics keynote motivational speaker, ethics consultant and ethics book author, I have asked audiences for decades. Is a rehabilitated former felon ethical? How about someone who deals Blackjack in a Las Vegas casino? What about the chief of surgery at a cancer hospital? Is a former 25-year veteran of a police force ethical?
Maybe yes, maybe no to all of the above. There is no telling a sense of ethics from a person’s profession and certainly not from race nor income nor faith nor sexual orientation. Ethics is, and unless it is instilled, taught and nurtured, it can turn from ethical to unethical given the opportunity or the need or a rationalization for doing so.
Christopher Greco – Hardly an Ethical Poster Child
Christopher Greco is in his early fifties and he is newly retired (August 2021) after serving the City of New Rochelle as a police officer for 25-years. New Rochelle is a small city of about 80,000. Greco, in fact, was the president of the New Rochelle Police Benevolent Association from 2014 until the year he retired in 2021.
At the top of its values statement, the New Rochelle PD states: “Ethics: We will demonstrate integrity and honor in all our actions.”
We would think, therefore, that Christopher Greco is an ethical man. According to Fox News, October 1, 2023:
“Greco has been charged with embezzling roughly $24,000 from a charity he founded in honor of his autistic son, and spending the money for his own personal purposes. He was arrested on Sept. 21 and charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, according to an announcement by Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah on Tuesday.”
The charity Greco founded with his wife in 2017 is called Christopher’s Voice, Inc., and the organization uses the tagline, “love needs no words.” We all know, love doesn’t need words, but creating a charity that was formed to:
“Help prevent wandering of autistic children by providing lifesaving GPS and other locate equipment, to provide financial assistance to struggling families with autistic children and to promote and provide first responder training to police, fire and EMS,” does need ethical purpose.
As a national ethics keynote speaker, ethics consultant and ethics book author, I would think that an organization founded by someone “that was inspired by Greco’s teenage son, Christopher, who has non-verbal autism,” would be driven by love and purpose. It wasn’t. He spent it on himself.
A contentious past
As the local scandal has unfolded, Greco’s contentious relationship with the New Rochelle District Attorney’s office was brought to light. Greco felt the DA’s actions in regard to the police department’s assault (an off-duty police officer) on a prisoner was “politically motivated.”
At the time, Greco responded:
“The Westchester County District Attorney has sent a clear and extremely risky message to all of law enforcement in Westchester County – that the DA will personally decide what is acceptable and what is not, rather than determine what is lawful and what is not.”
The DA attacked back, in part: “there is no place for the type of inflammatory and irresponsible language used which crosses a dangerous line… I have a long history of working with and strongly supporting law enforcement…”
Imagine then, the sense of payback when Greco was hauled before the same DA after being charged with embezzlement!
Despite Greco’s outspoken nature, those who felt sorry for him because of his child and those who believed in his vision of creating an agency where underprivileged children with severe autism could access GPS devices, sent he and his foundation money.
He took advantage of all of them, this “straight-shooting” PBA president. With no oversight, Greco’s foundation began to fleece all the donors. He violated the same ethical values he must have helped write over his 25-year career. What was his need? It was basic greed.
Greco was obviously to be paid a pension. His average base salary toward the end of his career was about $80,000 plus benefits. As the PBA chief, he made more. He wasn’t wealthy nor indigent. He and his wife had every option to earn more outside of the job.
It is possible to rationalize the theft of funds, most thieves do. As an ethics and business ethics keynote speaker, I have heard all manner of excuses. However, most fall short of logical explanation. He is not, simply, above the law. Now he will succumb to the law.
In the excuse department, police officers, lawyers, para-legals and even judges have committed highly unethical acts. Submitting to ethics training rather than the arrogance of saying “That stuff doesn’t apply to me,” does not serve anyone well. Now, Christopher Greco is no different than any other crook he put behind bars.
