Managerial approaches to mitigate police professionals’ online harms in the United Kingdom

In this article, we draw on the concept of misconduct to explore how police organisations frame personnel’s online harms and its impact on managerial perceptions and strategies. The aim is to provide insights into whether and how a focus on organisational reputation pervades management practices. Based on 52 semi-structured interviews with police managers from 4 police forces in the United Kingdom (UK) and 46 social media policy documents, guidance and training materials used by 25 UK police services, we explore how police managers interpret organisational messaging in their conceptualisation of responsibilities and operationalisation of strategies to protect police personnel online. Line managers’ decisions and actions are largely shaped by, and in turn shape, the organisational culture and ethical climate around online harms. We highlight the need to shift police organisational cultures around online harms towards a duty of care, in part as a timely response to implementing the well-being emphasis in the UK’s revised Code of Ethics 2024. We present three practical recommendations for organisational leadership and social media policy making in a global context both within and beyond police organisations: (1) national-level advocacy for increased focus on personnel vulnerabilities which supports organisational-level shifts towards, (2) an emphasis on wellbeing, and (3) broader managerial training in online harms management.