3.02 Challenges and possibilities of the implementation of the policing Code of Ethics

Academic team: Dr Anja Schaefer, Dr Owain Smolović Jones
Policing partners: Police Service of Northern Ireland
Status: Complete

With all UK police forces currently in the process of implementing a new code of ethics, there is an opportunity available to deepen understanding about the possibilities and tensions that the introduction of a code of ethics in a police force generates. The project adopted a qualitative approach to data gathering and analysis, seeking to draw out the stories and accounts of officers who have worked with and under the code of ethics in PSNI.

In adopting a qualitative approach that emphasises the narratives of serving officers, we hoped to draw attention to important identity issues related to ethics and employment in policing that are not adequately covered in the existing evidence base, which largely draws on quantitative studies that seek to measure the impact and internalisation of codes.

Outputs

TitleOutputs typeLead academicYear
Honouring the code? Exploring the ambiguities and antagonisms of ethical identitiesPaperSchaefer, A2016
Of ethos, family and bureau: accounts of a code of ethics as symbol of an organisation's political re-legitmationPaperSchaefer, A2015
Researching policing ethicsPresentationSchaefer, A2015
Bearing the burdens of the bureau: challenges and possibilities for the implementation of policing codes of ethicsPresentationSchaefer, A2015

News

Findings from an evaluation of the pilot application of AI for witness statement and report generation

Dr Paul Walley and Dr Helen Glasspoole-Bird have published an evaluation report entitled “An Evaluation of the Pilot Application of Artificial Intelligence to Witness Statement and Report Generation at Hertfordshire Constabulary”.  The work studies the outputs of version 1 of an AI application that takes audio from Rapid Video Response interviews with victims of domestic abuse and converts this into relevant summary documents including MG11 witness statements.

15th May 2025