3.04 Ethical practice in policing

Academic team: Dr Anja Schaefer, Dr Owain Smolović Jones, Dr Diana Miranda, Ben Hargreaves
Policing partners: Lancashire Police, Metropolitan Police Service and Gwent Police
Status: Complete

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An increased focus on ethics, including the introduction of the unified Code of Ethics, has been one response to the high level of political and media scrutiny of police conduct. This project builds on previous research conducted by the Centre for Policing Research and Learning and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the latter having implemented a code of ethics as part of the Northern Ireland peace process.

The aim of the research was to consider the newer context and practices of the Code of Ethics in English and Welsh police forces. The 12-month, in-depth, qualitative action-research project looked at:

police professionals’ construction of their professional and moral identities,
their engagement with codes of ethics and how this relates to their professional identity and their practice
the work of professional standards teams in ethical conduct by police officers and staff

Outputs

Title	Output type	Lead academic	Year
Honouring the code	Research paper	Schaefer, Smolovic-Jones, Miranda	2017
Ethical practice in policing	Final report	Schaefer, Smolovic-Jones, Miranda	2017
Challenged bodies: identities at the front line	Research paper	Schaefer, Smolovic-Jones, Miranda	2017