Ethics and values - Kent Police

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Student NotesNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKEDThere are numerous Acts of Parliament that are relevant to an officer’sduty of care to the community; for example the organisation has a dutyof care in relation to information and the way that it is stored, who it isA duty of care tothe informationheldrevealed to and the manner to which it is put. Under the GovernmentProtective Marking Scheme information is graded from ‘protect’ throughto the highest level of ‘top secret’. The Data Protection Act 1998 alsoplaces requirements on the way in which personal information ishandled, the Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information(MOPI) also governs the way we deal with personal information. Youwill learn more about all of these later in your training.What is important to know at the moment is that your duty of careextends across a wide range of policing areas, most of which will havea relevant Act of Parliament underpinning that duty of care. Otherexamples include, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Healthand Safety legislation, to mention just a few. You will also learn laterin these notes, that significant public inquiries impact on an officer’sduty of care, often by highlighting a lack of care at an appropriatelevel, or a lack of training in certain areas of policing, both of whichresult in recommendations for change in the police service.Potential for Conflict between Organisational andPersonal EthicsAs an officer you may encounter situations that will cause conflictbetween your personal values/ethics and those of the organisation.This is something that needs to be explored. Consideration needs to begiven as to how you would act in such an event. Examples of suchsituations are:• You have just become aware that your mother has been drivingher motor vehicle around for the last three months without anyroad tax and says that she doesn’t intend to re-new it yet as shecannot afford it at the moment.• You know that someone on the sex offenders register will beIND01(AS)_EthicsandValues_SNVersion 1.01 NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED Page 46 of 82© College of Policing Limited 2013
Student NotesNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKEDmoving in next door to you. You have a young daughter andfeel that you want to say something to your partner.• You are at a party with some friends who are smoking cannabisand you see the person that they are buying it from, what doyou do?These are all situations that you could come across in your day to daylife as an officer. It is vital that when deciding your behaviour youshould remind yourself of the Statement of Mission and Values to helpguide you in the right direction.Our own values are formed by our life experiences and influenced byThere are lawsthat govern allyour actionspeople close to us, such as, family, friends, teachers, religious leadersetc.Therefore people are going to have different values to each other. Asan officer you have the difficult job of sometimes having to leave yourpersonal feelings, values and beliefs behind. This is not something thatwill be easy. You will learn during your training that there are lawsthat govern all of your actions. You will need to know these laws andwhat your powers are in each situation, so that you can actaccordingly.Remain openminded andnonjudgementalYou will also need to consider your prejudices and stereotyping and notallow these to effect your judgement or actions by remaining openminded and non-judgemental. You will be looking at how you can dothis throughout the duration of your training.The Importance of Equality and Diversity in PoliceEthicsPrejudice anddiscriminationwill not betoleratedEquality and Diversity is a core theme throughout your training as anofficer. This will, no doubt, not be the first time you will havediscussed/read about diversity and it will most certainly not be the last.Prejudice and discrimination are something that will not be tolerated inIND01(AS)_EthicsandValues_SNVersion 1.01 NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED Page 47 of 82© College of Policing Limited 2013
Page 3 and 4: Student NotesNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKE
Page 45: Student NotesNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKE

Ethics and values - Kent Police

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?