Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Ethics Playing Cards
Copyright © 2025 Compass Ethics
10
You join a new team and realise that the other skipper clearly has favourites who are all members of the same club. You are not a member. What do you do?
Case Studies
- You gather that the chief is also a member of this club. Does that change your course of action or approach?
- If there is a large subgroup in the department that all follow the same sports team, attend the same golf club, or are all Masons, is this a problem?
- What do you do if you are invited to join a masonic lodge? What if the invitation came from or via a work colleague?
- A colleague treats their friend differently from other people at work, demonstrating bias. What can/should you do about this?
- A colleague has several family members working across different departments in the Force and demonstrates clear bias whenever they are involved in an activity or task. What can/should you do about this?
Discussion
Whilst it is not mandatory to declare any memberships of outside clubs which may bring certain members of the force closer, it is imperative that such membership or affiliation/association does not become exclusive or discriminatory.
- Where can you go for help and guidance in this kind of situation?
- There is no requirement to declare membership of a Golf Club, Private Members Club or Masonic Lodge, even as part of the police vetting process. Should there be?
- Equity and fairness are essential elements of a healthy work environment. How can inevitable closeness between colleagues avoid worsening those?
- Affinity bias, where you are more likely to agree with someone you have wider connections with, is a normal thing and we all do it to some extent either consciously or unconsciously. Being aware that this can change your own perceptions, as well as shape the perceptions of others, is important.
- How would a member of the public view the fact that a large number of police colleagues are all part of the same club or team outside of work? Does this have an impact on trust and confidence?
- Loyalty applies not only to immediate family and friendships but also to the community, the Force, and to moral principles like truth and integrity. Your ultimate loyalty should be to higher values like Public Service, Respect and Empathy, and Courage to do the right thing. Placing it elsewhere can lead to behaviour which breaks rules and laws.
Trust is a vital component of team cohesion, and breaking of the rules or inconsistently applying them can bring trustworthiness into question. This is not to say that you should not be loyal to your teammates, but you should be prepared to resist peer pressure so that you do the right thing.