1. Integrity Awareness and Workplace Ethics Workshop
Presenter’s Guide
Jim Batsel Case Study
Does this really happen? Do officers really get to the level of criminal activity? Yes, they do. The story of Jim Batsel is an excellent case in point. It demonstrates how one young man went from being an honest and dedicated police officer to someone who knowingly and regularly committed criminal acts. He is now serving a life-sentence in prison.
Jim Batsel Case Study Guide
In March of 1993, the Atlanta, Clayton, and Riverdale police departments, along with the Fulton and Fayette County Sheriff Departments formed a special task force to investigate a series of burglary, robbery, and murder charges against a gang of ten individuals. Five of these individuals were local law enforcement officers. Jim Batsel was one of those five officers.
In 1986, Jim Batsel joined the small Tyrone Police Department. He was considered a good, enthusiastic, sincere officer. In his own words, all he wanted to do was “go out and bag the bad guys.”
In 1988, Batsel became a member of the Riverdale Department of Public Safety, another small department near Atlanta, Georgia. Initially, Batsel’s job performance was very good, even though his Field Training Officer (FTO) allegedly slept on duty and stole property in front of him. The FTO’s rationale was that “the insurance company will cover it.”
Jim Batsel Case Study
Joined the Tyrone Police Department in 1986 – enthusiastic and sincere.
Joined the Riverdale Department of Public Safety in 1988 – witnessed unethical acts by superiors.
Joined the regional SWAT team – began to abuse steroids.
Became friends with five bouncers at a local bar – joined their criminal enterprise.
Committed large-scale burglaries and armed robberies in
Engaged in armed robbery at the home of the bar’s owner – killed the owner.
Sentenced to life in prison.
Module 6: Compromise of Integrity

2. Integrity Awareness and Workplace Ethics Workshop
Presenter’s Guide
Jim Batsel Case Study
After joining the regional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, Batsel developed an “us versus them” view of working the streets. He wanted to become extremely muscular, so he worked out at a local gym with four other members of the SWAT team. He then began to routinely abuse steroids as he became more self-centered, negative, and egotistical.
The five SWAT officers became friends with five bouncers from a local bar. These bouncers eventually asked the officers to join them in the criminal enterprise that they had created. After months of committing large-scale burglaries and armed robberies, Batsel was asked to take part in the armed robbery of the personal home of the owner of the bar where the bouncers worked. One of the bouncers had heard that the owner had a large amount of money in his home.
One of the bouncers served as the get-away driver. He dropped off Batsel and another officer who, wearing SWAT clothing and equipment, hid in the owner’s yard. When the owner arrived, both officers sprinted toward the garage. The owner had been robbed before, though. He saw the two men in his rear-view mirror, pulled out a handgun, and opened fire as the two ran into the garage.
The other officer, a 27-year old male, was shot in the face. Bleeding profusely, he lay screaming on the floor as Batsel and the bar owner continued their gun battle. Both emptied their magazines and reloaded. Batsel then continued to unload his entire magazine into the front seat of the owner’s car. The owner was clearly dead.
Batsel called the driver to pick them up, then kicked out a panel of the closed garage door and carried the wounded officer to the waiting van – the “war wagon.” Batsel hid the wounded officer in his own home for several days. They both knew that a hospital would report the gunshot wound, so they did their best to control the bleeding and pain with drugstore medication. While Batsel was out, the wounded officer, no longer able to stand the pain, called the police. That phone call led to the arrest of all ten members of the gang.
Jim Batsel Case Study
Joined the Tyrone Police Department in 1986 – enthusiastic and sincere.
Joined the Riverdale Department of Public Safety in 1988 – witnessed unethical acts by superiors.
Joined the regional SWAT team – began to abuse steroids.
Became friends with five bouncers at a local bar – joined their criminal enterprise.
Committed large-scale burglaries and armed robberies in
Engaged in armed robbery at the home of the bar’s owner – killed the owner.
Sentenced to life in prison.
Module 6: Compromise of Integrity

3. Integrity Awareness and Workplace Ethics Workshop
Presenter’s Guide
Speaker Note: Break class into small groups. Assign each group one of the following questions to discuss and answer.
Question 1:
Which factors were most influential in Jim Batsel committing crimes that sent him to prison for the rest of his life?
Possible answers include:
Poor recruitment and hiring.
Allowing leaders to role-model misconduct.
Lack of accountability.
Code of silence.
A sense of entitlement versus accountability
Question 2:
Jim Batsel asked some officers who were uninvolved with the robberies if they though he should join the criminals and begin committing crimes. What would you have said to him if you had been of the officers asked?
Possible answer includes:
Don’t do it. You will destroy yourself and your family.
Question 3:
After he began committing crimes, Jim Batsel told the officer he worked with about his criminal activities. What would you have said to him if you had been one of the officers he told?
Stop doing it.
Question 4:
Would you have turned in Jim Batsel to authorities? If so, how would you have done so? What would the consequences have been to you?
The right thing to do would be to turn him in to authorities by following your department policies for doing so.
Question 1: Which factors were most influential in Jim Batsel committing crimes that sent him to prison for the rest of his life?
Question 2: Jim Batsel asked some officers who were uninvolved with the robberies if they though he should join the criminals and begin committing crimes. What would you have said to him if you had been of the officers asked?
Question 3: Batsel told the officer he worked with about his criminal activities. What would you have said to him if you had been one of the officers he told?
Question 4: Would you have turned in Jim Batsel to authorities? If so, how would you have done so?
Module 6: Compromise of Integrity

4. Integrity Awareness and Workplace Ethics Workshop
Presenter’s Guide
Summary and Review
In this module we moved away from organizational corruption and looked at how and why individuals choose to compromise their integrity. You learned that the three primary reasons that individuals in the law enforcement community choose to compromise their integrity are a sense of victimization, a sense of entitlement versus accountability, and a sense of loyalty versus integrity. These dilemmas are the impetus for individuals to begin to act unethically.
[Speaker Note: Refer to the list compiled at the start of the module. Ask the class if they have any more reasons that they can contribute to the list.]
These seemingly small compromises lead to greater incidents of unethical behavior and can even lead to organizational corruption. Therefore, it is critical that you be able to identify – and stop – these incidents at the very earliest point.
Officers do not go straight from being enthusiastic and honest law enforcement personnel to criminals. Their behaviors move along a continuum that goes from acts of omission to administrative acts of commission to criminal acts of commission. Fortunately, for many, the cycle ends during administrative acts of commission. However, for some like Jim Batsel, they are not stopped until they have progressed to the final phase – criminal acts of commission. At this point, not only are the officers’ own careers, and even lives, ruined, but the organizations for which they work have to deal with a negative public perception. The organizations’ productivity has also suffered by this time.
[Speaker Note: Ask for questions.]
Recall that we talked about the role of loyalty to other officers in pushing law enforcement officers along the continuum of corruption. In the next module, we will talk about the Code of Silence. This is an excellent example of how damaging loyalty can be to an organization.
Summary and Review
Integrity is often compromised because of:
Sense of victimization.
Sense of entitlement versus accountability.
Sense of loyalty versus integrity.
The continuum of personal compromise of integrity includes:
Acts of omission.
Administrative acts of commission.
Criminal acts of commission.
Module 6: Compromise of Integrity