Explore the necessity of maintaining Professional Standards within the police service by considering the impact of the Code of Ethics, and the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

In this essay I will disclose the code of ethics and standards of professional behaviour.Within the policing community professionalism is very vastly known throughout the profession as it is such a key and important role in maintaining a good balance and boundaries between colleagues whilst working under the jurisdiction. In order to maintain these professional relationships, it is necessary for the police service to work with the Code of Ethics which provides a guide to what is expected from someone in this area of occupation (Ethics, 2022).
The Code of Ethics also interlinks with the Standards of Professional Behavior. There are nine main codes of ethics for the policing principles which are accountability, fairness, honesty, integrity, leadership, objectivity, openness, respect and selflessness (Ethics, 2022).

Further more there are ten standards of professional behavior which work hand in hand with the code of ethics to make sure professional behavior is maintained and worked with amongst the police service (Ethics, 2022).
The ten standards of professional behavior are honesty and integrity, authority and respect and courtesy, equality and diversity, use of force, orders and instructions, duties and responsibilities, confidentiality, fitness for work, conduct and challenging and reporting improper conduct(Accountability,2022).

 These codes of ethics and standards of professional behavior don’t only allow professionalism in the work force but also make sure that everyone knows their responsibilities, and this outlines the necessity of why these components are key in the role of a police officer. 
The code of ethics ensures and allows people in policing to be responsible for their own actions whilst having professional relations and to have a professional judgement whilst on the job. These ethics have been placed so people in the police force know the standards of practice (Accountability,2022).

Accountability which ensures that officers know that if they have made a mistake or something has gone wrong due to their judgment, they should take accountability when and if responsible as they are in service to the public which is a mass responsibility. Hence why accountability is key. This also has a great effect on professional relations because one mistake could affect another colleague and taking accountability for yourself, and your own actions avoids others being penalized and helps resolve issues a lot more effectively. Fairness is another ethic which ensures that there is no foul play within this environment and colleagues don’t prioritize others due to additional factors which and with the work field being a public service being biased would go against the code of ethic (Accountability,2022).


Being fair and reasonable is a necessity as it can avoid any uproar within the workforce and helps keep the work relationships professional and healthy. Honesty is a very important ethic as it sets in place what is expected from people in the police force as the main part of the role is to deliver justice and honesty plays a key role in that and therefore impacts professional relations because being honest keeps trust and respect between colleagues that’s why it is important and helps maintain professionalism (Mind, 2022).


Integrity is key in the police industry as you must have strong positive morals in order to pursue the work and have a professional relation with the public and people you work with again as previously mentioned the main targeted outcome us justice and you must have good morals in order to achieve the goal which involves a lot of your own judgement. Leadership is key to having professional relations in this area because even if you're working as a team there are times where you must take the reins and lead or if you have an idea towards a case for an instance you must lead and voice what you think, and feel is right which also links to integrity and morals.


Overall leadership is an ethic needed when required therefore is key in professional relations and in order to maintain it with a good body of work within the police. Objectivity is an ethic which links to fairness as it means you must stay fair and unbiased, which is necessary to advocate professionalism between colleagues and the public in policing so you can ensure you don’t cloud your judgment with personal views and opinion hence why objectivity is a very consistent ethic which is detrimental within the policing industry. Openness is a widely known ethic throughout the industry to be transparent and honest about your opinions and views. This ethic ensures that professionalism is in place. between people you work with and service users so there is trust between you and them. Respect and selflessness are the final two ethics, and they are also key to the role and maintenance of professional relations as you must have respect for people who work in the same environment as you and that you are situated with in regard to cases. Selflessness is also key due to the role of policing due to working alongside the public and having unbiased views and. being selfness is a priority because the main aspect into put others before you that’s what the role entails around. The link between selflessness and professional relations within the force is to ensure you do not be selfish and prioritize yourself over others in many different ways (Mind,2022).

The necessity of the standards of professional behavior within the policing force are also key as they set and hold boundaries within the policing force in order to keep and maintain professionalism (Ethic,2022).  


For example honesty and integrity ensure that colleagues communicate well and speak the truth with good morals and integrity in order to keep the professional relations and to not abuse trust. The policing force is meant to be a honest and honorable service for the public and therefore the values start from within the force. Integrity is all about morals and having good honest morals will help in the force to keep the necessary professional relationships hence why this value is so impactful towards the cause. Authority, respect and courtesy is very impactful towards professionalism in the police force as it makes sure people understand their role and place and work respectfully to avoid any miscommunication and maintain a proper understanding of values and boundaries. Courtesy, however, is slightly different as it puts in place that officers are instructed and allowed to engage in activity without being detained and prosecuted. Professionalism during these instructed tasks is essential to make sure things run properly and undisrupted (Mind,2022).




Equality and diversity are one of the most important and necessary standards of professionalism within the police force as it prevents and abstains any sort of discrimination and ensures everyone is treated equal despite their race and color or personal circumstances. This also comes with respect as you have to be respectful towards everyone regardless of their race or ethnicity, which ensures there is no one being offended or upset by personal views, and everyone is treated equally (Ethics,2022).


Use of force, orders and instructions require professionalism as there are boundaries to these three aspects. Use of force should only be used in a professional manner and not to be abused due to knowing you have the authority to do that so that’s why professionalism sets the boundaries for that to ensure nothing gets overstepped and it is the same with orders and instructions (Accountability. 2022).


Duties and responsibilities allow you to know what you’re required to do and use professionalism within your tasks and communications. Confidentiality and conduct convey respect within the police force as most of the time you are given case sensitive data which could be jeopardizing to any cases so that’s why confidentiality is key, and professionalism is interpreted within this.  Conduct is also essential as you people within the police force should work with the proper conduct and deliver as is entailed in their role. Reporting improper conduct shows you are working professionally and properly which is necessary to ensure no foul play is endured within any situation with policing also with honesty being a serious and essential ethic for police officers anything of improper conduct should be reported confidently regardless of if it jeopardizes anyone's position hence why it’s necessary to do this to enforce a standard of professionalism in the force. Fitness for work ensures that people don’t engage in any substance abuse, remaining professional, are classified fit as working in the police force is very physically challenging (Mind, 2022).