Met Research Ethics Committee (MetREC)

The objective of MetREC is to ensure that all research undertaken, funded or sponsored by the Metropolitan Police Service (the Met), meets high ethical standards. MetREC provides independent advice to the Met on ethical considerations of research, and is the first policing-specific research ethics committee in the UK.

MetREC ensures that policies, considerations, standards and safeguards are applied appropriately and for the purpose of safeguarding the rights, dignity, welfare and safety of people participating in research. It ensures that any risks involved in conducting and participating in research are appropriate and proportionate to the potential benefit of the research.

The role of MetREC is to review any operational delivery being conducted as research. If operational changes are made without consideration for research, this falls outside the scope of MetREC and any ethical implications must be addressed elsewhere. Therefore sending research requests in advance of starting research is very important to ensure a full review.

Examples of research that should be submitted to MetREC include:

• where a policing operation or intervention is introduced or removed selectively or via randomisation in order to evaluate that operation/intervention
• where police officers, victims, suspects or offenders are interviewed or consulted (for example, by questionnaires, focus groups, etc) for the purpose of research
• where research is undertaken by the Met to assess or understand old or new technologies, strategies, practices, behaviours, or approaches to policing
• where the allocation of resources is altered, based on data, in order to evaluate that allocation
• where research is undertaken which may impact on the trust of communities in the Met.

If you are sponsoring, undertaking or otherwise participating in research, you should contact MetREC via email for advice on how to secure ethical approval for that research. The Research Faculty act is the main point of contact for all research in the Met, and further advice can be gained from either Paul W Clarke (Head of The Research Faculty) or Eleanor Woolfe (Lead Research and Evaluation Analyst).

MetREC is chaired by Dr Daniel Sokol, a barrister and ethicist known for his academic and journalistic writings on the ethics of medicine. He formally sat on the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee and the Met is delighted that he is chairing this committee.

Committee members