Reflections from a Police Research Unit--An Inside Job

Dawson, Paul; Williams, Emma

doi:10.1093/police/pap043

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…If the police are to move forward and embrace a more methodological approach to crime analysis they need will need qualified people to do so. This means police forces need to invest in appropriate resources (Evans, 2008) and improve their use of scientific research (Dawson & Williams, 2009). This should also take account of how policing can integrate policing experience as an evidence base as noted by Roach and Pease (2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results suggest that although the potential is present for police analysts to be central to the EBP movement, several areas will need addressing. There is, at the time of writing, little academic guidance in developing analytical methodologies transferable to police analysts, and if EBP is to be embedded this element needs to improve (Townsley, et al, 2011;Dawson & Williams, 2009). The professional development of analysts should be a priority (Evans, 2008) and perhaps having appropriately trained analysts in a pracademic role will smooth the integration of EBP into crime analysis, with the results being two-fold: improving the quality of the analyst products (Santos, 2014) and integrating crime analysis more effectively into routine police practice (Belur & Johnson, 2016;Santos & Taylor, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Evolution of the Police Analyst and the Influence of Evidence-Based Policing

Keay¹,

Kirby

2017

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice

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role of the police analyst has lived up to expectation. This has been an interesting development considering that crime analysis is an essential component in influencing policing activity. This study explores the status of police analysts in the UK and outlines why the position may have been undermined. However, it also asks whether the growing emphasis towards evidence-based policing (EBP) provides a renewed opportunity for police analysts and the integration of crime analysis. It argues the integration of EBP (interpreted in its widest sense) could be an evolutionary step in finally establishing the police analyst as a true law enforcement professional. In doing so, it examines the role of the analyst both as a producer of information and as a bridge to partners, including academia, to assist in coproduction of rigorous analysis that can be used to direct policing resources and influence policy.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of the Police Analyst and the Influence of Evidence-Based Policing

Keay¹,

Kirby

2017

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice

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“…The debate about what counts as evidence in policing is not new. Whilst the political drive for efficiency and effectiveness in policing advocated by the New Public Management (NPM) regime of the 1980s raised the profile of research in understanding 'what works', the history of research within the field of policing started long before then (Reiner, 2000;Dawson and Williams, 2009). Arguably, the early ethnographic studies into policing (Muir, 1977;Bittner, 1978;Punch, 1979;Holdaway, 1979) provided an invaluable insight into the reality of police work and the social world in which it operates.…”

Section: The Importance Of Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been much debate about the relationship between police practitioners and the academic community, and the changing nature of this relationship (Brown, 1996;Dawson and Williams, 2009;Reiner, 2010;Lumsden and Goode, 2016). Some of this debate has developed internationally (see Wimshurst and Ransley, 2007;and Vodde (2009) for an overview).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The police education qualification framework: a professional agenda or building professionals?

Williams

Norman

Rowe

2019

Police Practice and Research

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Given the growing complexity in policing in England and Wales, the College of Policing (CoP) are implementing a Police Education Qualification Framework (PEQF) to standardise entry to the police and allow serving officers to gain accreditation for their previous training and experience. This provides occasion to revisit and reconsider longer term international debates about the role and value of tertiary education for policing. Part of this process, in relation to the PEQF, involves the development of a national police curriculum for higher education institutions (HEIs) to deliver to new recruits in the field. This forms part of a wider professionalisation agenda which seeks to align policing with other professions, and enable officers to think more critically about the situations they deal with as part of their role. Sklansky (2014) describes how different definitions of what constitutes professionalism can impact on officers' interpretations of this concept and how they subsequently engage with the proposed reforms. This paper, which is based on in depth qualitative interviews with serving officers who have undertaken an academic qualification in policing, suggests that the relationship between police education and the development of professionalism is complex. Officers need to be trusted and encouraged to use their learning in a way that develops their own personal sense of professionalism. However, this paper will also argue that current perceptions amongst officers are sceptical of the wider agenda and what it really aims to achieve. Rather than being viewed as an enabler to becoming a trusted professional, officers report that standardised prescriptive processes limit the value of 'traditional' forms of police knowledge, restricts critical thinking in the field, and stifles their ability to apply their knowledge in work-based decisions and problem-solving. This paper brings into question the development of a standardised curriculum which may ultimately be viewed as further governance over officer behaviour.

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“…Barriers to applying research to practice are not one-sided with academics in their turn agreeing that their use of abstruse terminology may have been unhelpful to the joint endeavour and publications presented in ways that are not particularly user-friendly to busy operational officers (Dawson and Williams, 2009). At some point in these debates, it may be suggested that the linking of research with practice in the medical world might be a helpful model, particularly in relation to the evaluation of drugs for use by the UK's National Health Service.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence-Based Policing: From Effectiveness to Cost-Effectiveness

Heaton

Tong

2015

Policing

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Recent years have seen the development of quantitative studies into policing effectiveness, in particular, the 'evidence based policing' movement which has encouraged the use of randomized control trials in the UK and the USA. Despite their significance, such studies remain narrowly based in terms of their take-up by academic institutions and police forces.This article charts the rise of evidence-based policing and considers whether it could be taken a step further, by developing consideration of police effectiveness into that of costeffectiveness. The use of 'Quality Adjusted Life Years' (QALY) methodology in the UK in the arena of drugs approval for use by the National Health Service, is considered as a model which might be transferable to policing. It is concluded that there are substantial similarities. Providing that the improvements sought are realistic, there is real potential for the costeffectiveness of policing methods to be assessed.

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Reflections from a Police Research Unit--An Inside Job

Cited by 24 publications

References 9 publications

The Evolution of the Police Analyst and the Influence of Evidence-Based Policing

The Evolution of the Police Analyst and the Influence of Evidence-Based Policing

The police education qualification framework: a professional agenda or building professionals?

Evidence-Based Policing: From Effectiveness to Cost-Effectiveness

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