What insight is gained into Heck Tate's character after the Halloween incident in To Kill a Mockingbird?

We get to know that Heck Tate is a responsible sheriff
before the fateful Halloween night. He knows his own limitations enough to hand over his
rifle to Atticus to kill the mad dog, and we know that the two men have a friendly if
professional association: Atticus calls him "Heck," but the sheriff always refers to
Atticus as "Mr. Finch"--a sure sign of respect.

After
learning of Bob Ewell's death, we also find that he has a good heart, since he puts his
job on the line by willing to officially declare Bob's death accidental by "falling on
his own knife." He knows before Atticus that Boo is the killer, though certainly in
self-defense. Boo could never be prosecuted successfully since he heroically saved the
children from a drunken killer who had publicly made threats against Atticus and his
family. Heck recognizes that Bob's death is a godsend to the town, and that Maycomb will
be a better place without him. As Heck tells Atticus on the
porch,

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"There's a black boy dead for no reason, and the
man responsible for it's dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr.
Finch.

Heck also believes it
would be a sin to drag Boo

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"... and his shy ways into the limelight--to me,
that's a sin. It's a sin, and I'm not going to have it on my
head."

Although, technically,
Heck breaks the law by declaring the killing accidental, he does it out of respect for
Boo, the town, and for his own salvation.