The Responsible Conduct of Research with Police Participants: A Qualitative Study of Police Officer Perspectives

• In Event: Perceptions of Investigators and the Evolving Landscape of Policing

Abstract

The principles that guide the responsible conduct of research must be sensitive to unique research settings and participant roles, but we have yet to develop an empirical understanding of the ethics of research involving police officers as participants. To gain such an understanding, this study collected qualitative data from 30 officers serving in eight agencies throughout the United States. The interviews focused on a) how officers characterize the ethical conduct of research; b) the extent to which their reasoning tracks established ethical principles of research, and c) which elements of these principles they emphasize. The study also probed which actors and factors were likely to best protect the ethical interests of police as research participants, and how they could best be operationalized. Officers stressed the role of the sergeant as their ethical fiduciary in the planning and execution of research, the distinction between being neutral versus impartial in research, the acceptability of withholding research questions and hypotheses to ensure candid responses, and the importance of a form of procedural justice in the conduct of research. The knowledge gained suggests actionable recommendations for police participatory research that would empower investigators to foresee, identify, and account for the attendant ethical concerns.

Authors

• Brandon del Pozo, Brown University

• Lauren Magee, Indiana University

• Kailtin Fatima Martins, Rhode Island Hospital