The Handbook of Policing, Ethics and Professional Standards

Low confidence in the police and the increasing crime rates during the 1990s led to a series of government initiatives directed at changing both the structure and management of the police service. In 2006 in an attempt to define what a principled police service should resemble, the Home Office Minister, Hazel Blears, announced the development of new Code of Professional Standards for the police service, informed by the Taylor Review of 2005. While there has been a growing awareness of the role of Professional Standards within law enforcement activity, to date there has been little scholarly debate on the understanding of ethics and how that is applied to practical policing.

This book provides a single text of different perspectives on how professional standards and ethics has been conceptualised and developed into practical policing processes for the purposes of policing, not only by the police but also by the partner agencies. Leading academics and practitioners consider the moral minefield of policing through examinations of undercover operatives, MI5 and deaths in police custody as well as looking forward to the future considerations and practices in professional conduct.

It will be of interest to those working within the field of policing as well as students and academics focussed on policing and criminal justice.

Allyson MacVean was the founder and former Director of the John Grieve Centre for Policing with Professor John Grieve . Allyson is also a visiting professor at the University of Chester. Her interests include police ethics, intelligence, risk and child protection.

Peter Spindler is a Commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and is currently their Director of Professional Standards having previously led the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Anti Corruption Command. He was previously the Commander for Covert Policing and leads for ACPO on Technical Surveillance.

Charlotte Solf, a member of Lincoln’s Inn, is seeking to pursue a career as a barrister specializing in Human Rights and criminal cases. Having worked part time for the John Grieve Centre for Policing, Charlotte developed her research interests in police ethics and police malpractice and the impact within the wider criminal justice process.