Short description:

What does the phrase ?police ethics? mean? What does ?policing ethically? entail? This book provides answers to these questions and proposes an ethical tool-kit to help evaluate the making of ethically-sound decisions by policing officials. 

Long description:

At a time when much in UK policing is the subject of intense public and media scrutiny, there prevails a practitioner discourse about policing ethically that is ongoing formally in police ethics committee discussions, and probably informally in station offices, canteens, classrooms, and police vehicles. Since January 2024, these conversations have added emphasis with the publication of the College of Policing revised Code of Ethics with which policing practitioners in England and Wales are coming to grips. This book explores thinking about policing ethically for those who have to use and implement the ideas; to those who, when law and policy is silent on the matter before them, nevertheless have to make a justifiable decision and act upon it.

Applicable to policing generally, not just to the U.K., Part 1 of this book presents conceptual contextualization for thinking about policing ethically. Following which, Part 2 considers practical implications of policing ethically. Some of the key topics that the book covers are as follows:

?       Discussions of managing power and vulnerability

?       Implementing frontline ethics in practice

?       The process of making ethically-informed decisions

?       Considerations around ethics and the use of Artificial Intelligence by policing practitioners

?       Prerequisites to ethical leadership

?       Considering ?public interest? in relation to policing ethically

?       Risk management as a moral obligation  

Drawing upon the policing practitioner and policy-making experience of the authors, this book will be of interest and use to all those involved in delivering policing: constables of all ranks (student, probationary, and experienced), policing community support officers, professional support staff, policing ethic committee members, and policymakers. The book is also a contribution to the wider academic literature on policing and ethics, and will be of interest not only to policing ethicists and ethnographers, but also students and policy-makers in the fields of criminology, sociology and governance.

Morally from the outset I need to declare an interest as I have worked with both authors. I begged them to write this important book which is not just for policing practitioners of every hue, students, or scholars of policing but for all those commentators and critics, be they politicians or journalists or concerned in governance of police or (very) interested third parties; this book will help your thinking and hopefully your understanding.
At the very least it will add to the general debate about what ?the police are the public and the public are the police? actually means in 21st century? At absolute best it might prevent some of the stupider interventions of ill informed bias laden critics of the 200 year old experiment that is envied yet an enigma to the world.
The writing is excellent on the ethical application of theory to practice and contexts. It is a highly significant addition to my thinking and library. It will be by my side as I continue to answer questions about decisions made long ago. 

Professor John G. D. Grieve, CBE. QPM, retired DAC MPS NSY and Professor Emeritus, London Metropolitan University

?Policing Ethically? thoughtfully considers the complexities of power, vulnerability and decision-making in law enforcement and challenges the idea that ethical policing involves no more than following a code of conduct. This book invites readers to think critically about ethics, accountability and responsibility and offers invaluable guidance for both practitioners and students. It is an essential read for those navigating the nuances of ethical practices and moral agency in modern policing.   

Dr Sarah Charman, Professor of Criminology, University of Portsmouth

This a very timely and well researched updating of the literature and thinking about ethics and policing. It is accessible and both a good guide for practitioners and a very useful resource for students and scholars.

Dr Peter Neyroud CBE QPM CCMI, Associate Professor in Evidence-based Policing, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

Table of Contents:

Introduction, Part 1 ? Thinking about policing ethically, 1. Purpose, ethos and ethics, 2. Ethics, rights and dignity, 3. A professional ethic for policing?, 4. Managing power, 5. Managing vulnerability, 6. The public interest(s), Part 2 ? Policing ethically in practice, 7. Codifying ethics, 8. Making front-line ethics work, 9. Ethical leadership, 10. Ethically-informed decision-making, 11. Managing risk as moral obligation, 12. Policing ethically