Defining good policing: The instrumental and moral in approaches to good practice and competence

Abstract

This paper centres on the question as to what constitutes “good policing? Four approaches to defining good policing are identified; the objectives, professional ethics, generic competency and interactionist. It is argued that these are differentiated by the extent to which they concentrate on either instrumental and technical dimensions of policing or the social political impact of its outcomes. Through a detailed examination of one incident of routine policing, the authors argue that any analysis which separates technical questions about means from moral questions about ends will remain partial. Finally, it is argued that the development of good policing is a personal achievement on the part of officers and can only be systematically developed if the organisation creates the “ethical space” to allow officers to critically reflect on practice.