Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Ethics Playing Cards
Copyright © 2025 Compass Ethics
7
The music at a neighbour’s BBQ is very loud. It is disturbing your Sunday afternoon. What, if anything, do you do?
Case Studies
- If it is disturbing other people as well as yourself, does that change your decision?
- If you politely ask them to turn it down, and they refuse, what will you do next?
- Do you declare you are a police officer and run the risk of ‘abusing your authority’ for what might be seen by some as a personal benefit?
Discussion
Clearly communicating in a well-rounded way, using tact, humility, or even humour, with those around us will often be sufficient to achieve a satisfactory outcome for everyone.
- What words/actions are appropriate?
- If the polite request is ignored or worse, a reasonable member of the public can’t fall back on saying “I am a police officer, so pack it in”. But in what situations would they expect you to do just this? Get the balance wrong, and it could look like an abuse of one’s position or powers.
- Do you report it and let someone else deal with it? What would the advantages/disadvantages of this be?
- If it is clear that the whole community is being inconvenienced rather than just you, does it make the option to intervene easier?
- An appropriate test is to ask what a reasonable person would do in such a situation – is the situation tolerable, or is it so disruptive that it has become intolerable?