The policing Code of Ethics and its use in the National Decision Making Model provide the main guidance for forces’ management of ethics. However, these do not explicitly provide guidance for forces on digital or data ethics issues. Forces participating in our research pointed to the need for more specific digital ethics guidance at a national level, with one participant saying, “The Code of Ethics has become a bit blurry, and is also a bit of a distraction because people are focused on that and not the digital or data element (of ethical consideration).”
Furthermore, there is currently no national approach to digital ethics benchmarking, auditing or reporting. HMIC, the main policing auditing body, does not currently review forces’ approach to managing digital ethics issues. While they do review forces’ legitimacy and efficiency, which can include their approach to ethics, there is more focus on compliance and broader themes such as recording crime data. HMIC have undertaken specific subject inspections, but this has yet to include any form of digital ethics assessment. Participants reiterated the importance of national policy and guidance from the Home Office and Police Crime Commissioners, suggesting that a firmer push from these governance organisations may encourage forces’ investment into their own digital ethics strategies.
