Policing Research

We engage with a range of national and international bodies, conducting research and development work in the field of policing.

Research and Knowledge Exchange Activities

Our research activities in the field of policing are many and varied:

  • We were recently engaged investigating serious crime in Kenya, specifically to carry out research into rape and other forms of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Kenya (2013).
  • A report for the College of Policing on knowledge exchange between the academic community and crime and intelligence analysis (2014).
  • Between 2008-2010 Bryn Caless conducted research into the roles, values and attitudes  of senior officers in the United Kingdom obtaining accounts from 94 ACPO ranking officers leading to the publication of the book Policing at the Top in 2011.
  • From 2011-2014 Bryn Caless and Steve Tong conducted completed over 100 questionnaires and interviews of strategic senior police officers from over 25 European countries examining issues from international police co-operation, police governance and leadership and key challenges to policing.
  • The School has a strong interest in police professionalization and higher education. This interest ranges from a focus on initial police training for police constables to trainee detectives and cybercrime training. Members of the school have been invited to speak at the College of Policing, Scottish Institute for Policing Research, Police Federation, Netherlands Police Academy and contribute to the Independent Commission on the Future of Policing ( Lord Stevens Report ) in 2013.
  • An evaluation of Estonian higher education provision in Policing, Prisons and Legal Services (2005 and 2009).
  • Handbooks published to support practical policing include the Blackstone’s Handbook for Policing Students , the Blackstone’s PCSO Handbook and the Blackstone’s Handbook for the Special Constabulary.

POLCON4 Conference (2013)

Within our School, the Policing team hosted the annual conference for the Higher Education Forum for Learning & Development in Policing attracting 160 delegates. Keynote speakers included:

  • Rt Hon David Hanson MP – Shadow Policing Minister.
  • Alex Marshall – Chief Executive Officer, College of Policing.
  • Professor Shirley Pearce – Chair of the College of Policing.
  • Prof Jenny Flemming – University of Southampton.
  • Stephen Rimmer – Director General, Crime & Policing Group, Home Office.
  • Ms Sara Thornton – Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police. 
  • Peter Splinder – Assistant Inspector of Constabulary, HMIC. 
  • Visiting Professor Maurice Punch – King’s College, London & London School of Economics.

Links

We have links with a variety of policing organisations ranging from educational collaboration through to support for research including the Metropolitan Police, Kent & Essex Police, PSNI, London Police Federation and the Police Academy of the Netherlands. Access for the strategic leaders research (see above) has been facilitated by Europol and CEPOL (the European Police College) and received funding from the College of Policing for research into crime analysis.  Academics in the policing team are members of the British Society of Criminology (BSC), Policing Network, the Society of Evidence Based Policing (SEBP), and the Forum for Higher Education for Learning & Development in Policing

Research Interests

Academic members of the policing team have a wide range of interests relating to policing including: mental health, police reform, governance and leadership, international co-operation, cybercrime, crime analysis, criminal investigation, homicide, sexual offences, pornography, police history, police training and professional development, volunteering and the special constabulary, public order, terrorism and police ethics. To learn more about these research interests among staff within the school please browse our staff profiles.

To find out more about our policing research, please contact us, or alternatively, return to our research homepage  to discover more about the research from across the School.

 

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Last edited: 04/04/2019 09:06:00