Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Ethics Playing Cards
Copyright © 2025 Compass Ethics
4
You have been invited to a party where you believe some people may indulge in drugs. Do you go?
Case Studies
- You are invited to a party and it becomes obvious once you are there that there are people taking drugs. How do you respond?
- You’ve been invited on a stag/hen in Amsterdam, nothing that is illegal in the Netherlands (but may be illegal in the UK) is likely to happen, but should you go? Does the situation change if the activity was illegal where it takes place?
- If the party is taking place overseas, does that change anything?
Discussion
- The Code of Ethics states that you do the right thing but what does that look like in this situation?
- Your professional and your private life do sometimes overlap, and this causes particular problems for those who are tasked with upholding the law. How do you manage the different parts of your life?
- Does it change anything where the party is taking place and what substances are legal where? If the rules are different when you are abroad, are you permitted to act differently?
- How do you manage family and friendship pressure to attend?
- Who has invited you and does that change your attendance choice? Is it possible that different colleagues will have different valid opinions/redlines when it comes to this kind of thing?
- What about consuming legal highs? (For instance, CBD consumption)
The bottom line is that if you are at a party when a drugs bust takes place and you knew in advance that there would be drugs there, or even decided to stay after you became aware of them, your ethical, moral, and lawful appreciation of risk is tainted and this would compromise your position as a police officer. The impact and restrictions on an officer’s social circle is embedded from day one of service and this would be seen as an example of very poor judgement.