Allyson MacVean - Police Ethics and Values

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Policing Matters

Police Ethics and Values

Policing Matters

Police Ethics and Values

Allyson MacVean and Peter Neyroud

Series editors
P A J Waddington
Martin Wright

Learning Matters
An imprint of SAGE Publications Ltd
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London EC1Y 1SP

SAGE Publications Inc.
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Editor: Julia Morris
Development editor: Jennifer Clark
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Cover design: Toucan Designs
Typeset by: Kelly Winter
Printed by: MPG Books Group

Copyright 2012 Allyson MacVean and Peter Neyroud

First published in 2012

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011945606

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978 0 85725 385 9

Contents

Introduction to police ethics and values

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

By the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• recognise how ethics are considered in policing;
• understand the general principles of ethics and moral frameworks;
• identify the theories of philosophy relating to police ethics;
• appreciate the moral conflict in ethical decision making and the implication for policing.

LINKS TO STANDARDS

This chapter provides opportunities for links with the following Skills for Justice, National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Policing and Law Enforcement 2008.

AE1.1	Maintain and develop your own knowledge, skills and competence.
CA1	Use law enforcement actions in a fair and justified way.
HA1	Manage your own resources.
HA2	Manage your own resources and professional development.

With the introduction of the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF), it is likely that the term National Occupational Standards will change. At the time of writing it is not clear what the new title will be, although it is known that some organisations will use the term QCF assessment units.

Links to current NOS are provided at the start of each chapter; however, it should be noted that these are currently subject to review and it is recommended that you visit the Skills for Justice website to check the currency of all the NOS provided: www.skillsforjustice-nosfinder.com.

Introduction

It is frequently the police who must take responsibility for the guarding of the boundaries where the actions of one individual have unacceptable consequences for others or for society at large.

(Jack Straw, 2001 in Neyroud and Beckley, 2001)

Ethics are a critical component of policing. Unlike other professions, such as medicine, law and accounting, the police do not have a code of ethics. Doctors undertake specialised training in medical ethics and are required, as part of the process of becoming a doctor, to accept the principles and philosophy of the Hippocratic Oath. This is because it is acknowledged within the profession of medicine that there are complex ethical decisions that doctors are required to make and that specific ethical training and support should be provided (Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), 2007). If it is accepted that policing is equally complex and demanding, with many ethical dilemmas, an understanding of ethics and ethical behaviour provides a framework and set of values that can guide an individual to make the right judgements and do the right things, for the right reasons things that are morally correct.

There are two key aspects in relation to making the right judgements and doing the right things. The first is that police officers are primarily guided by the criminal law they are sworn to uphold. An ethical framework assists them in the application of discretion when preventing crime and enforcing the law. The second aspect is ethical judgement in administering the expenditure of public money upon which, arguably, government has placed greater emphasis since the 1980s than on upholding the integrity of the criminal law and the criminal justice system.

Pollock (1998) argues that the study of ethics is particularly important for criminal justice practitioners in general, and the police in particular, because:

• they are empowered with significant discretion to make decisions that affect the life, liberty and property of members of the community;
• they are empowered to use force in certain situations;
• they have a duty to enforce the law;
• they have a duty to protect the rights of members of the community;
• they are public servants and, therefore, as the appointed guardians of the publics interests, they must demonstrate high standards of integrity;
• they are authorised to use intrusive, covert and deceptive methods to detect and investigate crime;
• they have a crucial role in protecting hard-to-reach and vulnerable groups thus they are the ultimate gatekeepers of citizenship and respectability.

(adapted from Pollock, 1998, pp34; Neyroud and Beckley, 2001, p38)

As we will demonstrate, the relationship between theories and principles of ethics and practical decision making in a policing environment is intricate and complex. Ethical decision making often requires judgement and not simply deductive reasoning. This involves making moral decisions about what is right or wrong, reasonable or unreasonable, deliberate or an accident. Thus, ethical decisions are equally about doing the right things as much as doing things right.

However, the challenge for policing is that the police are required to uphold and enforce the law regardless of the laws moral content. For example, the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 makes it quite clear that the police role is to discover and present all relevant evidence, both inculpatory and exculpatory, and not to present just the evidence that a police officer has deemed relevant on the basis of what he or she may consider to be morally right or wrong. It is for this reason that ethical policing is so significant.

The day-to-day decisions made by police officers in undertaking their duties can make a difference to the outcomes of any situation. Consequently, police officers and police forces are now increasingly being asked to account not just for the decisions they make, but also for the way they have made them. Therefore, an understanding of ethics and an ability to relate theory to practice is now an essential part of a police officers portfolio (Neyroud and Beckley, 2001). However, while the book provides details of the codes as set out by various police organisations, it must be remembered that ethical policing is not characterised by a distinctive type of ethics but is defined by the behaviour and culture of both the individual and organisation. Therefore, as we will learn, ethics are subjective.

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