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Risk

Risk — Authorised Professional Practice

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Summary

This section of the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) focuses on the complexities of decision-making within policing, highlighting the inherent risks associated with police operations. It emphasizes that effective and defensible decisions are essential yet challenging, given the multifaceted nature of policing which involves uncertainty and various perspectives on problems. The document stresses that police personnel are professional risk takers, as risk management is central to their roles. While many police decisions yield positive outcomes, the stigma attached to the terms 'risk' and 'risk taking' often leads to a culture of risk aversion within the service, with officers hesitant to act due to fear of negative repercussions from the public and media scrutiny.

Key principles

  • 1Effective decision-making is central to policing.
  • 2Policing is characterized by uncertainty and diverse viewpoints.
  • 3Risk taking is essential to police professionalism.
  • 4There is a risk-averse culture in some areas of the police service.

Defined terms

Risk
The possibility of something bad happening.
Risk taking
The act of making decisions that involve potential negative outcomes.

Full guidance

This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.

Making rational, effective and defensible decisions can be difficult, especially in the complex environment of policing, which is characterised by uncertainty, multiple views of a particular problem and numerous possible intervention points and solutions.

Characteristics such as these turn most policing decisions into risks. Police decision makers can, therefore, be more accurately described as professional risk takers, with risk taking being at the core of police professionalism.

Although the majority of risk decisions that police personnel make are successful, terms such as ‘risk’ and ‘risk taking’ have negative connotations. The media and public tend to focus on decisions that result in poor outcomes and this has led to the police service becoming risk averse with some officers and staff afraid to make decisions in case things go wrong.

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Reproduced from the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as captured on 2026-06-27. APP is amended over time — check the source link below for the current version. This is a reference, not operational authorisation.

APP is the authoritative source for UK policing practice and is updated over time. For the current, official version — including any operational detail not reproduced here — go direct.

Read the full APP guidance

Source: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.