Ethical Failures in Policing

Dr Justice Tankebe

Policing has some significant transnational ethical problems. One of these is the problem of police violation of ethical norms and the law, such as when officers provide false testimonies, collect bribes, use excessive force, or engage in racial discrimination. 

Another ethical problem concerns the choices made by individual police officers when they are confronted with such unethical actions by their colleagues. This is arguably the most fundamental ethical problem in policing because effective accountability, the rule of law, unfettered access to justice, confidence in democratic governance, and preventing police capture by organised crime depends on a solution to the problem of whistleblowing. 

This study uses survey data from Ghana to explore the applicability of Wikström’s ‘Situational Action Theory’ to our understanding of why individual police officers choose to resolve the ethical problem of whistleblowing the way they do. 

Key publication

Tankebe, J. (forthcoming) ‘An ethical analysis of police officers’ reporting of misconduct by colleagues’ In Bottoms, AE & Jacobs, J (eds), Morality, Crime and Criminal Justice. Oxford, Oxford University Press

Book chapter

A. Liebling, J. Shapland, R. Sparks & J. Tankebe (eds.) (2022) Crime, Justice, and Social Order. Essays in Honour of A. E. Bottoms. (Clarendon Studies in Criminology) Oxford. Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/crime-justice-and-social-order-9780192859600?cc=gb&lang=en&