Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Ethics Playing Cards
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4
You are at a family gathering. You notice your nephew smells strongly of cannabis. What do you do?
Case Studies
- As the afternoon goes on, he suggests taking the dog out for a walk away from the adults with his other cousins, what do you do?
- What do you need to find out before acting (or choosing not to act)?
Discussion
Police decision making is often complex. Decisions are required in difficult circumstances and are often made based on incomplete or contradictory information. In addition, police officers and police staff are sometimes required to make decisions in circumstances where those involved may not be entirely truthful in their responses!
- What if he is not in possession of any cannabis, is there still an issue?
- Do you need to have a conversation with your sister/brother? Should this be before or after you do something else?
- Could it be medicinal? Are you even sure the smell is coming from your nephew? Do you have any reason to suspect that they might be dealing?
- There are clearly a number of potential risks if you do nothing. For example, if someone else spots the distinctive smell and they know you are a police officer, there could be a perception of neglect of duty. This is a good example of one of the challenges of being in law enforcement - how your own privacy can be impacted upon by family members and friends who might be oblivious to the compromising position for you they have created.
- To not act or address the situation opens up a number of problems. For example, if the person was stopped on the way home by other police and declares he has been with you at a family gathering and you didn’t do anything about it despite knowing cannabis was in their possession, the cop will be in trouble, or at least likely to find themselves under investigation.
- One option would be for the officer to leave the event – and remove themselves from risk, not having asked too many questions. Another would be to quietly ask the other person to leave – or the most difficult, deal with it as a criminal matter. Determining which option to take comes down to professional judgement.
The National Decision Model (NDM) is always a useful starting point for such situations. It has six key elements:
- Code of Ethics; Ethical policing principles and Guidance for ethical and professional behaviour in policing.
- Gather information and intelligence.
- Assess threat and risk and develop a working strategy.
- Consider powers and policy.
- Identify options and contingencies.
- Take action and review what happened.
Each element provides the user with an area for focus and consideration. The element that binds the model together is the Code of Ethics at the centre.