Public expectations of police education in England and Wales

Journal article


Andrews, T. 2024. Public expectations of police education in England and Wales. Policing. 18, pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad101
AuthorsAndrews, T.
Abstract

The current Police Entry Qualifications Framework in England and Wales has undergone much debate since its inception in 2018. Recently the Home Secretary backtracked on over a decade’s worth of party policy and undid the requirement for all new police officers to hold or obtain a degree in Professional Policing. This has been immediately followed by several chief constables and elected police and crime commissioners (PCC’s) dropping the requirement for a degree completely. Some have been quoted as saying “the public don’t want police officers sat in classrooms” or words to that effect. Yet no studies exist that do examine what the English and Welsh public do expect educationally of their police force. This study fills that gap by surveying n = 520 members of the public to ascertain their views. It finds that whilst a two-thirds majority of the public ostensibly say they don’t believe police officers need a degree, more than nine out of ten expect them to have some kind of police-specific higher education qualification. They would also feel overwhelmingly more confident if an officer investigating a crime they were a victim of, held a relevant policing-related degree qualification. This dichotomy is then analysed against the wider background of HE and vocational qualifications. It concludes that the problem is not with a requirement for higher education in policing, but the 'd word' itself and the marketing of the degree as a 'requirement' versus a degree as an 'achievement'.

KeywordsPolice Education; Police Training; Police Recruitment; Policing; Police Higher Education
Year2024
JournalPolicing
Journal citation18, pp. 1-9
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP)
ISSN1752-4520
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad101
Web address (URL)https://academic.oup.com/policing/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/police/paad101/7515076?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Accepted author manuscript
License
File Access Level
Controlled
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online10 Jan 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted21 Dec 2023
Deposited02 Jan 2024
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