Policing Ethically

Clive Harfield, before taking up an academic career, served for twenty years in various UK police organizations in local, national, and transnational policing roles. As an associate professor he has taught and researched at the University of Wollongong, NSW (criminal law, transnational crime prevention); the University of the Sunshine Coast, Qld (cybersecurity and cyberinvestigation ethics); the Australian Catholic University (criminology and criminal justice); and he has been an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland (law). In designing and delivering criminal justice sector capacitybuilding support for law enforcement practitioners and policymakers, he has worked in Bangladesh (counterterrorist financing) and Papua New Guinea (anti-corruption and organizational integrity), funded by Australian federal government foreign aid programs. In the police education and research arena, he has undertaken the roles of Visiting Lecturer at the Police University College, Norway; International Visiting Fellow at Bath Spa University, UK; and Fulbright Research Fellow at Georgetown University, Washington DC (USA).Allyson Macvean’s distinguished career began in the Serious and Organized Crime Unit of the Home Office, from where she moved into academia, establishing the John Grieve Centre for Policing and Community Safety at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (now Buckinghamshire Chilterns University). As Professor of Policing and Criminology, and Co-Director of Bath Spa University’s Centre for Leadership, Ethics, and Professional Practice, Professor Emeritus Macvean worked closely with the Royal Marines to help re-establish ethical culture and ethics training; work which, in turn, led to her being commissioned to review ethical climate, ethical awareness, and ethical leadership across the five fighting arms of the Naval Service. She has been instrumental in the establishment of police ethics committees in England, Wales, and Scotland, and was a founding member of the UK Police Ethics group (now the UK Police National Ethics Committee). In 2019, for her services to ethical leadership and ethical policing, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

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 PortsmouthThis 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

• 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 frontline ethics work, 9. Ethical leadership, 10. Ethically informed decision-making, 11. Managing risk as moral obligation, 12. Policing ethically