1.  INTRODUCTION

  1.1  The comments set out in this paper are influenced by my contact with the police service in the following ways:

—  as Director of the Diploma/Masters in Applied Criminology with the experience of teaching senior police officers on the Strategic Command Course since 1996

—  as a researcher on crime, offending and policing related issues

—  as an external and internal examiner of police/university partnerships providing education for junior levels of the police organisation

  1.2  Policing in contemporary Britain is an increasingly complex task which involves roles as diverse as responding to 999 calls and routine beat policing, to the investigation of complex national, cross border and global crime. This range of requirements demands different kinds of training, generic and specialist, in order to equip officers to play their particular role within the police organisation most effectively.

  1.3  The structure and organisation of police training is complex, with a small percentage (approximately 10 per cent) delivered by National Police Training (NPT 1998:iii), alongside local, force level and regional training. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary noted that "Service-wide, there is limited coherence, with a lack of corporate agreement as to training priorities and a lack of consistency in the delivery of training solutions to meet ostensibly the same objectives" (HMIC 1998a:39).

  1.4  This submission suggests that radical changes to police training are required. The discussion and recommendations are primarily focused on recruitment, problems with training and equal opportunities. It is argued that the police service should become more professional (with graduate entrance the norm); that insufficient emphasis is given in training itself, and within the organisation generally, to developing reflective professional practice; too little use is made of expertise outside the service, which properly utilised, would enhance police training considerably; and insufficient attention is given to the context within which policing occurs (crucial to some of the critical issues in policing that are currently receiving publicity).

  1.5  Furthermore, external involvement and oversight in recruitment and training is essential if some of the most contentious issues in contemporary policing are to be improved. As Southgate (1988:233) argued training is not an isolated "self contained activity" but one linked to "organisational development and change". This submission also suggests a number of ways in which the structure and organisation of police training could be reformed (including a more cost-effective, equitable and efficient recruitment process) in order to equip the service for the challenges it faces into the new millennium.

2.  PROFESSIONAL POLICING: GETTING THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS

  2.1  There are few organisations where one of the most pivotal roles, which relies on the exercise of considerable discretion, and fundamentally impacts upon public attitudes, is conducted by the most junior and sometimes the least experienced staff who currently have little or no access to the broader generic training of their more senior colleagues. The nature of policing and its contemporary complexities should require constables who perform these duties to be highly qualified.

  2.2  In the last two decades there have been significant changes in the numbers of officers who join the service with a degree. In 1968 just 168 graduates were recruited, in 1988 the number was 6,625 (Brown & Campbell 1994:156). In 1997-98 almost 13 per cent of those recruited had degrees (HMIC 1998b). Despite these changes the service needs to move far more rapidly towards majority graduate recruitment. The reasons for this are outlined below.

  2.3  For many years the police organisation has struggled to establish whether policing is a craft or a profession (Reiner 1992). The tradition of craft (founded on experience) rather than knowledge based policing is problematic simply because "someone who seems experienced at a task has not necessarily learnt the best way to do it. Or, even if they have, that way may now be outdated" (Southgate 1988:235).

  2.4  Research evidence suggests that good educational qualifications and professional policing are linked and may be crucial to discouraging the least desirable and potentially damaging aspects of police/public interaction and police malpractice.

  2.5  "College educated officers were more open minded than non-college colleagues (Roberg 1978) ... more likely to be tolerant of people of different lifestyles, race and ethnicity (Goldstein 1977), less likely to resort to force in conflict situations, work within legal frameworks (Sterling 1974), exercise their discretion appropriately (Worden 1985), communicate more effectively (Bell 1979), are more professional (Carter and Sapp 1988) and have fewer complaints and disciplinary action taken against them (Carter and Sapp 1989:158, Cohen & Chaiken 1972, Dalley 1975, Cascio 1977, Roberg 1978).

  2.6  These differences arise because education "encourages independent and critical thought" (Worden 1985) and because graduates have "a greater knowledge of organisational rules and values" (Sterling 1974) which means they "understand" and operate within "the parameters of acceptable behaviours as articulated in the rules, as well as their broader conceptual framework" (Cater et al 1988).

  2.7  Carter and Sapp (1989) describe a professional officer as one who had the ability "to diagnose problems in confusing, variable situations; (and) based on their diagnosis ... make timely discretionary decisions". They require "minimal direct supervision" are "adaptable" and able "to handle volatile emotions one moment, and great interpersonal sensitivity the next; ... making rapid critical decisions in circumstances of great stress" and applying the law "fairly and equitably" (Carter and Sapp 1989:157-8). Fyfe's (1996) work revealed that even the propensity for officers to become involved in fatal shootings in the United States is linked with educational attainment.

  2.8  The research outlined above suggests that highly qualified recruits should be actively sought by the police service not only because they will be more professional but also because in the long term it will save the organisation money. "Police ... must be concerned with reducing liability risk, not only because it is an ethical responsibility" Carter and Sapp (1989:163) argue "but also because of the pragmatic implications of resource management".

  2.9  There are also likely to be considerable savings to the service if, at the point of entry, recruits are more qualified. As Guyot (1991:298) points out most "organisations staffed by professionals" do not often "bear the cost of the professional training but place that burden on the individual". Clearly all recruits will require some specialist police training at the outset of their career but the nature of their training may be very different if the calibre of officers was higher at the point of entry to the service.

  2.10  There has been recent concern about corruption in the Metropolitan Police and in the constabularies. Research by the New York Police Department following serious corruption scandals suggested low educational attainment was a significant factor in the histories of seriously corrupt officers. The better educated police officers were at the point of recruitment the less likelihood there was for corruption. The Department changed its policy, raising the age of recruitment and the educational requirements. The level of educational attainment increases with rank and is a condition of promotion.

  2.11  Police officers' propensity to lie is also linked with educational attainment (Barker et al 1994). Research on Los Angeles police officers for example after the 1991 riots demonstrated that 58 per cent of officers surveyed felt it "moderately acceptable" to lie to "get the bad guy off the streets". Length of service was not linked with response, neither was gender but educational attainment was. "Deviant lying for illegitimate purposes" (breaking "substantive or procedural laws/department regulations") decreased with education (Barker et al 1994:161-2).

  2.12  There is little work on education and its impact on policing practice in the UK context. However, Hack's (1993) research, although based on a very small sample, suggested that "better educational qualifications and a more analytical style of thinking figured more prominently" in probationers who were "high achievers".

  2.13  Despite the links between education and good professional practice "police culture does not highly value `book learning' or academic ability as a skill for police officers" (Fielding 1988:58). Indeed Flynn (forthcoming) concludes that "in the late 1990s higher education attracts little significance or importance in police forces throughout England and Wales", the service does not "capitalise on the skills, knowledge and experience gained by officers on higher education courses" and does "not take officers academic achievements into account in career planning and development". Flynn's survey, conducted in 1988 reinforces earlier findings (see Smithers et al 1990, Taverne 1967).

  2.14  In order to tackle some of the most intransigent problems in policing the evidence seems to suggest the need to move towards graduate entry for all officers (or the opportunity to gain these qualifications through part-time study during officers' service). This would put policing in line with other professions like social work, nursing and probation. As in New York, a masters degree would be required for promotion beyond the rank of sergeant.

  2.15  Employing graduates per se will not solve the police service's problems. Recruitment needs to focus on employing the right graduates and utilising their skills. "Police departments are so accustomed to training their own", Guyot (1991:298) commented, that they adopt a single approach which takes no account of the education an officer has before entry, neither does it influence allocation to station/duties etc. Indeed in NPT's submission it is stated that there are no problems associated with single entry and standardised training for recruits whatever their background or educational qualifications. This is clearly very problematic, not least because in order to maximise the potential of individuals such differences always need to be taken into account.

  2.16  Graduates are among the most frequent resigners from the police service (see Brown and Campbell 1995:156, Holdaway and Barron 1997, Silvester 1989, Fielding 1988) and fewer might want to resign if their skills were more valued by the organisation and taken into consideration in training and tasking.

  2.17  Police recruitment should not only look for the characteristics required of a police officer but their training potential (Johnson 1983). Pugh's (1985a/b) research for example suggested that recruits who were thought to be "good police officers" two years after selection rated highly for their ability to "fit in, gain trust and become part of the police department". However after four and a half years recruits thought to be good police officers rated highly on "responsibility, maturity and social skills" (Grant and Grant 1996:160). Training and developing a police officer is a long-term investment and it is important to select the right people for the right jobs.

  2.18  Getting the right people to join the organisation is also hampered by overplayed and misleading images of policing as a dangerous and macho pursuit (Martin 1989, Jermier et al 1989 in Brown and Campbell 1994:151) something which is often at variance with the reality of much of the work itself (see Reiner 1992) and neglects equally important aspects of the role like the value of "interpersonal skills" (Brown and Campbell 1994:153). Sensitivity, for example, may be as important as assertiveness, but sensitivity is frequently viewed as a weakness in the police organisation, not a strength. Stereotypical images may reduce the appeal of policing as a career especially for women. While for men and women from ethnic minority groups the poor status of policing in comparison with other professions and lack of role models are likely to be inhibiting factors.

factors.

  2.19  Greater graduate recruitment directly links with issues concerning police officers pay. It is far better to recruit less, but more able and suitable, police officers and pay them well, than open up the service to poorer levels of recruits (because potentially good candidates are deterred by poorer pay and conditions) and the problems that this might cause for the service in the short and longer term.

3.  RECRUITING A REPRESENTATIVE POLICE SERVICE

  3.1  Police recruits are not drawn from a broad cross section of the British population (Brown and Campbell 1994:155). There are very small numbers of minority ethnic groups. In March 1998 just 1.96 per cent of almost 127,000 police officers were from ethnic minorities, although ethnic minority officers represented 3 per cent of those recruited in 1997-98 (Home Office 1998:9).

  3.2  Many of the barriers preventing greater ethnic minority recruitment are not sufficiently understood by the police service and are as much about "external dimensions of police race relations" (Holdaway and Barron 1997:13) as they are about internal procedures and practices.

  3.3  There are larger (over 10 per cent), though not representative numbers of women officers (Anderson, Brown and Campbell 1993, Heidensohn 1994a). 27 per cent of those officers recruited in 1997-98 were women (Home Office 1998:27).

  3.4  All sections of the public whatever their ethnicity or status should get a professional policing service, which is both fair and effective. Sadly cases like Stephen Lawrence, the disproportionate stop and search figures (Smith 1994) and victims experiences (see Bowling 1998) suggest that this is not always the case. A recent survey conducted for the Metropolitan Police (1997:8) revealed a marked reluctance on the part of minority ethnic groups to report incidents of racial harassment to the police. Only 58 per cent of Asian respondents in the survey said "they would be certain to contact the police if they were a victim of racial harassment". Other research indicates that black people perceive the police to be impolite more frequently than their white counterparts (Skogan 1990, Southgate and Crisp 1992, Bucke 1996). These findings suggest fundamental structural problems in, and perceptions about, the relationships between the police and minority ethnic groups (Foster 1999:268). Is it surprising that the police service is not an immediate career choice?

  3.5  Concerns are sometimes expressed that the introduction of higher educational qualifications would discriminate against minority candidates and it might seem that the recommendations in section 2 reinforce this trend. However, there are many ways to boost minority recruitment which do not involve lowering standards (for example offering additional support in schools, and bursary and sponsorship schemes for "A" level and university students).

  3.6  Furthermore, there are many well qualified young people of black and Asian origin. Many of them however do not apply to join the police service. A recent study for example revealed that ethnic minority students were more likely to move into higher education and "in inner city areas gain better exam results than their white counterparts" (Policy Studies Institute, in Albury and Snee 1996:359). "It is not enough" therefore "to just encourage more ethnic minority applicants ... the police should be aiming to recruit people from the higher end of the ability scale in this group" because those who currently apply "are of a generally lower ability level than White applicants" which leads to a "seemingly lower performance of ethnic minorities on the Police Initial Recruitment Test" (Ashley undated:24).

  3.7  Holdaway and Barron's (1997:50) study of black, Asian and white officers who resigned from the service suggested that from "the very early stage of recruitment" race was a predominant factor. "Black and Asian officers (were asked at selection interviews) if they would be spurned by or tied too closely to their `own people' to make adequate judgements about police action. `Race' was articulated as a problem `out there' encroaching upon relationships between the police and ethnic minorities". Yet "The crucial question of racialised relations within the police service and its relevance to the working lives of black and Asian officers was ... rarely, if ever mentioned during a recruitment interview or related discussion" despite its presence preventing "full participation in and enjoyment of the benefits of police employment" (Holdaway and Barron (1997:57/8).

  3.8  The picture is no better in relation to gender. In 1996 an HMIC report on equal opportunities reported that while there were examples of "good practice" and "many individuals" within the service "see equal opportunities as crucial to the development of a modern, efficient and diverse workforce ... entrenched attitudes continue to frustrate their best efforts" (HMIC 1996:9).

  3.9  Yet as Jennifer Brown (1997:36) suggests "a more equal opportunities sensitive police organisation would .... [produce] a more inclusive rather than exclusive style of policing". As the HMIC (1996) report highlighted: "Fairness, tolerance and respect for human rights are all qualities which inspire public confidence and are fundamental to policing" (HMIC 1996 p11-12).

  3.10  Some organisations are more prone to discrimination and harassment than others. The most common characteristics: less than 20 per cent of workforce from minority groups, inadequate representation of minority groups in management at all levels of the organisation, under representation across different departments and specialisms (Fiske 1990, quoted in Brown 1997:46). All of these characteristics pertain in the British police force currently both for women and ethnic minorities.

  3.11  It is clear that more women and ethnic minorities should be actively targeted for recruitment. There is a role here for senior operational and ACPO officers to become more proactively involved in the recruitment process promoting a vision of a truly representative police service (both in terms of ethnicity and gender). ACPO officers take a high profile in terrorism and serious crime, if we want a representative police service for tomorrow they need to do the same for recruitment and training.

4.  EXTERNAL OVERSIGHT OF POLICE RECRUITMENT

  4.1  The police organisation, partly because of the nature of its work, has a tendency to be rather introspective and manifests what Jones characterised as a "psychological distance" from the public irrespective "of the style of policing adopted" (Jones 1986).

  4.2  The strength of the organisational culture and the tendency towards introspection makes external oversight (both lay and professional) in the selection of police officers essential. Research in the United States for example reveals that citizen involvement in selection enhances community relations and the recruitment process (Grant & Grant 1996). Such an approach undoubtedly increases police credibility, has the potential to empower minority ethnic groups and makes the recruitment processes transparent (see O'Hara and Love 1987). Hazlett's (1985) research suggested that those who sat as community representatives for police recruitment were "unbiased" in their selection of majority and minority applicants.

5.  REFORMING THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

  5.1  The Police Initial Recruitment Test (PIRT) which "covers basic skills such as reading, writing and spelling" is the only national component of police recruitment. Despite this "the pass mark varies from force to force" (Flynn, forthcoming), and applicants rejected in one force can be appointed to another, especially large city forces, who find it more difficult to attract recruits. Given that it is metropolitan areas where crime is most concentrated, where social and economic problems are most intense (see Hope 1996), and the task of policing is most challenging, it is these areas which require the best recruits.

  5.2  The PIRT test is very simplistic indeed and should be dispensed with. Prior to recent changes, introduced in June 1998, the test was deemed discriminatory to some ethnic minority applicants because of the wording of some questions and the time constraints placed on completion of the test (Smith et al, 1994). It does not effectively screen out candidates, or "test" the core competencies required for constables.

  5.3  The current recruitment process highlights the difficulties with 43 different forces adopting their own recruitment, training procedures and practices beyond the basic PIRT which results in inconsistency (HMIC 1998).

  5.4  There is a strong argument for a national, centrally organised police recruitment process. Potential recruits would apply to a central body specifying their preferences for the forces they would like to join. Forces would announce how many places they had available in a given year and applications would be circulated to the forces of preference. This is broadly similar to the university admission system (UCAS). The central body would co-ordinate all applications, set core competencies and monitor recruit profiles and quality.

  5.5  The police application form would require similar information to the UCAS form (educational history, a personal statement, references, and perhaps a "test" scenario where the candidate would be asked to describe how they might deal with a police/public encounter). Individual forces could then interview candidates, put them through an assessment centre or any other procedure for selection of their choice.

  5.6  The potential savings could be considerable, the system would be far more efficient and cost effective and enable national standards to be achieved benefiting the service as a whole and the public they serve. City forces might also be able to obtain a higher quality of recruits. For example, if applicants applied to a force which had insufficient places in any one year they might be offered other forces where places were available.

  5.7  A centralised scheme of this kind would encourage movement towards thinking of the needs of the service as a whole rather than any given constabulary. However an essential element of local control and flexibility would be retained.

6.  THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT IN POLICE TRAINING

  6.1  The problems which currently face the police service stem in part from the absence of an awareness and understanding of the broader context in which policing takes place. Officers require such knowledge in order to exercise their discretion appropriately.

  6.2  The perception that the police represent the "thin blue line" maintaining order amongst chaos (Reiner 1992) in an increasingly hostile public and political climate is a characteristic of police officers at all levels in the organisation and is transmitted to recruits at an early stage in their socialisation into the police world (see Fielding 1988). The cynicism which sometimes accompanies this comes from years of exposure to the problems and difficulties of relatively few people without any context about crime, the conditions in which it most frequently occurs, and the best means to deter or prevent it. In a busy inner city division, for example, violence seems rife. However, as a proportion of overall crime patterns violence represents a very small number of recorded offences each year (Mirrlees-Black et al, 1998) a trend which seems counter intuitive to many police officers working in crime prone areas. However, even in the most conflict ridden areas policing is as much about 'peacekeeping' as crime fighting (Reiner 1992).

  6.3  Similarly in areas where there are sizeable ethnic minority populations constables often believe that the majority of their work is comprised of people from these groups when in reality it is not (Foster 1989). White offenders vastly outnumber black offenders (indeed street robbery is the only offence with more black than white offenders, and this offence comprises a tiny proportion of the overall number of offences in any one year) yet as research highlights policing actively sustains racialised stereotypes (see Holdaway and Barron 1997, Bowling 1998, Solomos 1989).

  6.4  There is also a tendency to see a core of practical training needs as divorced from the context in which they occur. So issues surrounding policing diversity are not integral but marginal. For example the NPT submission highlights the "crowded" nature of probationer training and "acknowledges that with more time, greater attention could be given to EO and CRR issues" but believe "the right balance" has been achieved (NPT 1998:31/ix). Community, race relations and equal opportunities should be central to all aspects of police training. For example, when officers learn stop and search procedures they need to be aware of the disproportionate use of stop and search on young black men, and to be asked why this might be and how can they ensure that their use of stops is legitimate, not discriminatory. Police practice can never be divorced from the context in which it occurs. "Trainees" need to "learn how to perform these tasks while, at the same time, taking account of the personal and social dynamics which are in play" (Southgate 1988:231).

  6.5  The perception of policing as an increasingly dangerous occupation characterised by conflict with particular groups fuels fear, generates increasing pressure for enhanced technology and "tooling up" (bullet proof vests, CS spray, side-handled batons), and creates a backcloth of potential hostility, all of which distance the police further from the public they serve.

  6.6  Professional skills are required to deal with the problems of crime and disorder and applied criminology should form a core part of these at all levels of the organisation. In crime investigation for example detective constables do not receive training in the psychology of crime, patterns of crime and victimisation, criminal careers, and crime prevention, all crucial to the core work in which they engage and knowledge of these would enhance effectiveness.

  6.7  With greater contextual knowledge and awareness constables may exercise their discretion differently and be more effective. It would also empower them to innovate and improve their own professional practice.

7.  THE IMPORTANCE OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

  7.1  Police training needs to encourage officers to think and to reflect on their professional practice, not simply to respond and react. This is crucial in the most conflict ridden policing environments. Reflective practice, a concept developed by Schon (1983, 1988) highlights the importance of a "situational understanding and self-monitoring ... of actions, thoughts and assumptions within (professional) practice as it occurs (reflection-in action), or after the action has been completed (reflection-on-action)" (Bright 1995:221).

  7.2  The hierarchical nature of the police organisation and its strict discipline code make openness, honesty and reflective practice difficult. Although rarely discussed or exposed in training practitioners must focus on the processes involved in decision making as well as the outcomes themselves, as thoughts, feelings, expectations and assumptions which lie beneath the surface of the "ice berg" have a crucial impact on professional practice (Fish and Coles 1998). A safe environment to feed back failure as well as success is essential.

  7.3  Recruit training has incorporated an element of reflective practice since 1986 (Bright 1995:239). Despite this Bright's research suggested that the principles behind reflective practice were "not regarded as being very important" and that at "all ranks" there was "a failure to either understand or accept the concept". This was reinforced in Adlam's (forthcoming) work which revealed that a reflective approach was difficult to achieve among middle ranking police officers.

  7.4  External involvement in the training and development of police officers, exposure to a broader range of experiences than simply those of the police organisation itself and the need for more independent and self-developmental learning are all crucial to the development of more reflective police practice. This process should begin during the early stages of recruit training, and might be facilitated via support groups (which could be multi-agency) but run by non-police personnel.

  7.5  A support structure outside the police environment is crucial to encourage officers to confront the issues they face and to offer a respite from, and challenge to, the organisational culture.

  7.6  Most police training is currently rank specific. Yet much is to be gained from training across ranks. As Guyot (1991:297) noted "collegial consultation is critically important to facilitating officers' development of common understandings of fairness, and yet it is extremely limited in practice". This is important too because moves towards a more reflective style of training need to be matched by different styles of management. Southgate (1988:234) rightly argues that a more reflective organisation requires a principle of "learning together" in order to encourage change at all levels of the organisation. He continues: we "need ... to think of training ... as a programme of development which helps individuals, groups and the organisation as a whole to learn how to learn and how to take a proactive, creative and adaptive stance towards the environment in which they have to work" (Southgate 1988:240).

  7.7  Like other public sector organisations increased emphasis has been placed on efficiency and effectiveness in the police service through performance indicators and objective led policing, with an emphasis on outcomes (see Fish and Coles 1998). There is an awareness of the increasingly complex demands on the organisation and this managerial focus is characterised by "rules, laws, routines and prescriptions; diagnosis and analysis; technical expertise; fixed and measurable standards; assessment, accreditation; and instrumentality (Fish and Coles 1998:41). Reflective professional practice however is based on an understanding of the grey areas between "patterns and frameworks"; seeks "creativity" and allows "room for mistakes; theory emerges from practice; uncertainty is embraced"; quality emanates "from deepening insight into one's values, priorities and actions; and education is intrinsically worthwhile" (Fish and Coles 1998:41). It is these values of professional practice which the police service must now embrace.

  7.8  Continuous life long learning (see National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, 1997) plays a key role in reflective practice. While all police officers require some core training, beyond this officers should take ownership of their own learning and, in conjunction with their supervisors/senior officers (and perhaps an outside advisor), develop individual learning profiles. Officers could be provided with a number of vouchers (which may be enhanced for example by good work) to be used in facilitating their development, whether lateral or hierarchical.

8.  WHO SHOULD TRAIN?

  8.1  Considerable scope exists to increase the role of outside agencies in the training of police officers at all levels. Scarce resources are currently wasted by the police service because extensive research evidence, highly relevant to police practice and strategic development, is rarely used either because the organisation is not aware of it or because there is indifference to it.

  8.2  Training should be the realm of experts and some of it is best delivered (for example management and criminology) by those outside the organisation. All police officers involved in training should hold a first degree and preferably a Masters degree, one wherever possible which covers the substantive knowledge in the field/areas for which they are responsible. For example criminal law should be taught by someone with both practical and theoretical legal knowledge.

  8.3  This approach would represent a significant shift for the organisation, where craft skills are still valued. Yet as the research outlined in paragraphs 2.4 - 2.6 demonstrates university educated officers "understand the police role" in a way that their colleagues without degrees do not (Carter and Sapp 1989). Furthermore the organisation already has resources in the large number of officers with degrees whose educational qualifications are not currently being exploited by their forces (Flynn, forthcoming).

  8.4  It is crucial that trainers are carefully selected. As Southgate (1988:234) remarks "good police officers do not automatically make good trainers, but it is unlikely that a person will be a good trainer unless he or she is a good operational officer as well".

  8.5  Greater status needs to be attached to police training. Incentive schemes (including merit payments) should be developed to attract the brightest and best (or less appealing, but possibly necessary, an element of compulsion that in order to be considered for promotion able officers must have some involvement in training during their careers).

9.  DELIVERY AND EVALUATION OF TRAINING

  9.1  Too much emphasis is placed on classroom training and too little emphasis on encouraging independent learning at all levels of training. Studies of how people learn reveal that the time spent out of the classroom is as important, and sometimes more important, than the time spent in it (Anderson & Sosniak 1994). Classroom time may be important for setting the context and for stimulating independent learning but there often seems to be a feeling in police circles that time out of the classroom is not productive. Allowing time to absorb and think is crucial to learning and to application. This should be reflected in more private study time being built into courses and less front-loading. As Baroness Blackstone (1998) commented "Adult learners do not all have the same learning needs. Nor do they all learn at the same time and in the same mode. Yet all too often that is what higher education institutions offer them - standardised courses, whose content, timetabling and duration are better suited to the institution than the learner". This statement equally applies to police training.

  9.2  It is "no easy task to provide individually tailored learning" (Southgate 1988:232). However if the police service is to move forward alongside some standardised training personally tailored professional development is crucial.

  9.3  Training is only worthwhile (and therefore cost effective) if the knowledge is retained and operationalised in practice. A constant interaction between training and the practical policing environment is essential to make it timely, relevant and dynamic. Course syllabi and materials should be developed in consultation with relevant academics, practitioners and agencies with a continuous element of external oversight and be based upon good research prior to their establishment concerning the needs of those requiring training and courses designed to reflect these needs. All training courses should be continuously evaluated and updated to ensure that they meet the needs of officers attending them.

  9.4  Courses should be increasingly modular: providing short, well structured training (possibly day release, three day courses and two-week short courses so that the interaction between the policing environment, training and reflection occurs continuously) with ongoing support in the work place using computer mediated learning (properly staffed with course tutors providing work and advice) with short follow-up courses for reflection and reinforcement.

  9.5  Some training should be generic and involve other organisations. Multi-disciplinary crime prevention training, for example, would aid partnership work and assist agencies to work more effectively together. This was ably demonstrated in Neyroud's (1993) observations on multi-agency involvement in racial harassment in which other agencies' approaches to tackling the problem broadened thinking about policing strategies which could be employed. The Crime and Disorder Act has already led to the development of some joint training and further developments of this kind should be encouraged.

  9.6  Multi-disciplinary training should wherever possible be facilitated by external partners in order to equalise the relationships between different agencies as research on partnerships reveals that the police role can be too dominant (see Crawford 1997, Crawford and Jones 1995).

10.  GETTING THE BEST OUT OF PARTNERSHIP

  10.1  The police organisation has often regarded itself as omni-competent (indeed this term is used in the research report conducted on behalf of the Federation, see Davies undated:75). It is not possible to be omni-competent. Policing an increasingly complex world means that no one agency or individual has all the requisite knowledge required.

  10.2  The proposals by the Police Federation for a virtual police university has many appealing and positive aspects (for example, accessibility to information, support for all officers, "the need for the entire workforce to update and up-grade their skills, knowledge and understanding on a regular basis throughout their career irrespective of rank" [Davies et al undated:75]). This is very important as the service has failed to provide front-line officers with adequate support and training for the vital role that they perform in the organisation.

  10.3  However, the Police Federation proposals at another level personify the insularity of the police organisation. There is little need for a police university if the police service made use of the resources already available and tailored partnerships between the police service and universities to deliver focused and appropriate training. The police service should focus on its core tasks. Less police officers involved in training through better use of partnerships, releases staff for operational duties.

  10.4  This is a challenge for the universities too but is beginning to happen with a number of partnerships between NPT and the Universities of Portsmouth, Cambridge, Manchester and the Institute of Management aimed at different ranks from probationers to potential ACPO officers.

  10.5  The value of these partnerships at two very different levels in the organisation are outlined in sections 11 and 12 below:

11.  UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH PROGRAMME FOR PROBATIONERS

  11.1  The University of Portsmouth developed in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and latterly NPT a Certificate of Higher Education in Policing, and for those who wanted to pursue their studies further a degree level programme. More than 600 police students have taken this course since it began in 1991.

  11.2  Flynn's survey of a hundred officers who attended the course (based on a 62 per cent response rate) found very high levels of officers (93.5 per cent) willing to recommend the course to other recruits (far higher than the satisfaction levels [approx. 75 per cent] for probationer training see Davies et al undated).

  11.3  Over 95 per cent of officers suggested that the course had facilitated their understanding of the psychology of crime and criminal justice (Flynn forthcoming). However, when asked if the course had "encouraged" them to "apply" their new found knowledge in their police work 80.6 per cent said it "had not" (Flynn forthcoming). This may have been due to officers perceptions that their studies were "held in low esteem by managers" which may also account for the very low levels of officers (21 per cent of the sample) who chose to pursue the BSc degree.

12.  APPLIED CRIMINOLOGY FOR SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS-UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

  12.1  This part-time Diploma and Master's Degree in Applied Criminology for potential chief police officers exemplifies some of the issues raised in relation to training in previous sections. The programme aims to:

—  enhance the capacity of senior officers to apply up-to-date academic research to the strategic aspects of crime and policing

—  increase awareness of existing research on crime and policing

—  enable senior police officers to critically evaluate research methods and findings

—  provide a framework for using research in strategic policy and planning

—  provide high-quality instruction enabling officers to gain a Diploma/ Master's degree in Applied Criminology

  12.2  The programme has been very successful with officers in the three cohorts to date rating the course either as good or very good overall. Most importantly evidence suggests that the officers are utilising what they have learnt in their professional practice (see appendix A[27]) and that they are becoming more reflective practitioners as a result.

  12.3  In order to assess to what extent the information from the course was used and applied in their professional practice officers were asked, a year after returning to their operational duties, to rate out of 10, the value of the course against the core ACPO competencies. The results outlined in table 1 below are based on a 100 per cent response rate.

  Table 1: Cambridge Diploma/Masters Impact, Rated Against ACPO Competencies (Scores out of 10)

	1997 Cohort	1996 Cohort
overall professional practice	8	8
negotiating and influencing	7	6
judgement	7	7
confidence as a leader	7	6
developing strategic perspective	8	8
usefulness of course materials	8	8
professional development	8	8
ability to seek information	7	7

13.  CONCLUSION

  13.1  There have been significant changes in the police service with trends towards greater professionalism. This has dividends: it enhances fairness; and brings management ideals and practice closer together (Guyot 1991:295-6).

  13.2  Although greater efficiency and effectiveness is to be welcomed, in policing the means by which those outcomes are achieved are crucial. Just one negative encounter between an individual police officer and a member of the public can have a profound impact on attitudes towards the police, and as the issues raised by the Stephen Lawrence case suggest, there is still much to be done. As Holdaway and Barron (1997:23) point out: "Race issues . . . reveal failings of policy, management and organisation that are of direct relevance to all policy, management practices and organisational structures".

  13.3  The proposals contained in this paper offer the opportunity to enhance the professionalism of the police through a nationally managed recruitment process attracting officers from all sections of society and demanding high educational standards; training and education that encourages reflective practice and an understanding of the context of policing; and the delivery of training through partnerships that draw upon skills available outside the police organisation. An educated and professional police service can only benefit the public it serves.

Dr Janet Foster

Institute of Criminology

December 1998

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