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UoP20Police: Enhancing and professionalising training for new police recruits and police tutor constables

1. Summary of the impact

Sarah Charman’s research has led to the transformation of policy and practice around a vital area of police training, first for Hampshire Constabulary, and subsequently in new national College of Policing standards, implemented for all new police recruits in England and Wales. “Tutoring” is a long-established and fundamental part of police training, in which new recruits enter frontline practice under the guidance of an experienced colleague. It can have a profound influence on their future development as police officers. Charman’s research into the culture of tutoring has fundamentally changed both local and national approaches to the training and development of new police recruits and tutor-constables. This impact has further extended internationally, to the development of new standards for national police tutoring across five Nordic countries.

2. Underpinning research

Charman’s groundbreaking research involves gaining an understanding of policing cultures and using that understanding to enter a constructive dialogue with the police service about organisational change. Her early research focused upon an innovative cultural analysis of the previously-hidden Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and their role within the policing and criminal justice policy process. Charman subsequently (2009-2014) led the first research project to assess the cultural interoperability of police officers and ambulance staff (R1, R2). This interpretivist qualitative research revealed the potential for cultural boundary-crossing through the transmission of cultural characteristics, thus enhancing the development of emergency service multi-agency working beyond hardware solutions. Developing this focus upon identity-building and shared cultural characteristics further, Charman created and led the first modern longitudinal research project (2012-2017) to have analysed the changing attitudes of new police recruits, working with Hampshire Constabulary, a force charged with the policing of over two million people (R3,R4,R5).

Charman’s subsequent book, Police Socialisation, Identity and Culture: Becoming Blue, is the significant output which directly led to the impact discussed below. The project demonstrated that the tutoring period is the most influential but least recognised and evaluated part of police learning. This aspect of police training has changed little over many decades. When new police recruits are first posted to a police station after initial training, they will be under the tutelage of a tutor constable for generally a ten week period. This is their first experience of policing ‘on the streets’.

At this point in their training, new officers are thrust into a challenging environment of fast response policing, and learning to cope with the demands of the role can manifest itself as stress and anxiety. Charman’s research demonstrated how this in turn can lead to increased cynicism and an inward suppression of emotion in favour of an outward semblance of confidence, which puts the welfare of new officers at risk and impacts negatively upon their interactions with the public.

The research highlighted the important role of ‘on-the-job’, social, and facilitative learning. In approaching this critically sensitive field through an appreciative inquiry method (focussing upon what is already working well and how to build on previous successes) rather than treating it as a problem solving inquiry, Charman was able to work more effectively with both individuals and the organisation at large. This resulted in deeper insights into the practices and attitudes around areas of difficulty, and opened pathways to consider strengthening areas of positive police practice, as detailed below.

Understanding the culture of an organisation helps us make sense of its existence, and can frame a deeper understanding of both the experiences of employees and their impact on the public. Charman’s research has centred on the development of policing cultures and identities within all ranks of the police service, and the consequent impact of these cultural characteristics on the policing organisation, policing practice and multi-agency working. It has demonstrated the vital importance of fully understanding policing cultures as a critical influence on interactions with the public, where the imbalances of power and exercise of discretion inherent to officers’ role have a critical impact on the fair and just delivery of policing services.

3. References to the research

(R1) Charman, S. (2013). Sharing a Laugh: The Role of Humour in Relationships Between Police Officers and Ambulance Staff. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 33(3-4), 152-166. https://doi.org/ 10.1108/01443331311308212

(R2) Charman, S. (2014). Blue Light Communities: Cultural Interoperability and Shared Learning Between Ambulance Staff and Police Officers in Emergency Response. Policing and Society, 24(1), 102-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2013.784306

(R3) Charman, S. (2017). Police Socialisation, Identity and Culture: Becoming Blue. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63070-0

(R4) Charman, S. (2018). From Crime Fighting to Public Protection: the Shaping of Police Officers' Sense of Role, Perspectives on Policing: Paper 3. Retrieved from http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/publications/perspectives-on-policing/

(R5) Charman, S. (2020). Making Sense of Policing Identities: the ‘Deserving and the ‘Undeserving’ in Policing Accounts of Victimisation’. Policing and Society, 30(1), 81-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2019.1601721

Evidence for the quality of research

R1, R2, & R5 are positioned in peer-reviewed academic journals. Policing and Society is in Q1 of Law journals and at 48th out of 751 such journals (Scopus) is the highest ranking policing journal. R3 was cited at five times the discipline average in 2019 and is in the 94th percentile of citation rankings. One reviewer noted that it “represents a major addition to our knowledge of police work and deserves to become an essential resource for anyone interested in the area of police culture” (Cockcroft, 2020 in Policing: a Journal of Policy and Practice). Another said that “Charman's book is thoughtfully positioned in the debate over whether normative structures can change organisational cultures and engages with the unchanging empirical accounts of frontline police culture”. (Fielding, 2018 in Policing and Society).

Charman’s work remains organisational and cultural in its focus. In an innovative collaboration with Hampshire Constabulary, Charman is part of a team awarded a GBP170,456 ESRC grant to consider the impact of pandemic policing on the police and the public. It seeks to understand and analyse the experiences of police officers and police leaders in exceptional circumstances and to explore the physical and psychological challenges of pandemic policing. The link between perceptions of police legitimacy and willingness to comply means this understanding is crucial. Research findings will be scaled up into evidenced-based policing policies/practices nationally and its impact assessed and practices modified over the period of the crisis and beyond.

4. Details of the impact

Charman’s research has led to three key impact strands. First, in direct response to the immediate findings, Hampshire Constabulary have changed practices and processes for all new recruits to the police force, and for those tutoring these new recruits, in order to enhance the quality of tutoring, provide tutor recognition, and safeguard recruit wellbeing and retention. Second, the professional policing body - the College of Policing - has created new national standards, embedding Charman’s research findings, in order to guide every tutor in England and Wales in providing a more consistent and high quality tutoring experience for new police recruits. Third, Charman’s work has catalysed a series of national and international teaching and mentoring events focussed upon policing cultures and the vital role of tutoring.

Regional Impact - Hampshire Constabulary

Charman presented her research to senior members of Hampshire Constabulary and individual officers tasked to review and reform organisational learning in 2018. This research demonstrated the critical but problematic nature of the police tutoring process. As a consequence, Hampshire Constabulary decided in 2018 to radically change this policy and the system it informs. Their report (S1) stated that “In recognition of this [Dr Charman’s research], a discovery project was set up to review tutoring for the constabulary as a whole” which has resulted in a new accredited tutoring programme for all new and existing tutors in Hampshire Constabulary. The approximately 400 tutors who are required to tutor new police recruits will be better trained (now accredited to QAA Level 6), better aligned with the learning of recruits, receive protected learning/tutoring time and be financially rewarded. Charman has provided a critical keynote address to all of these tutors outlining the evidence base for these changed policies (S2).

Recruitment of the first of some 1,500 new Hampshire Constabulary officers planned for between 2020 and 2023 began in September 2020. As a result of the evidence produced by Charman, these new recruits will be introduced into a variety of different policing environments within the first few months of their policing careers (e.g. Neighbourhoods Policing) rather than automatically into the fast paced and highly pressurised Response and Patrol teams. Charman’s research was described by [text removed for publication] as “transformative” (S3). [Text removed for publication] said “As a result of these actions and the robust academic research from the University of Portsmouth, our staff and ultimately our communities have benefitted through tutoring policies based upon the research evidence of the skills of tutors, their enormous influence in the learning of new recruits and the wellbeing of new police recruits. This also has the potential to create more confident new recruits to the police service who are better able to serve the public.” (S4).

Follow-up research by Charman in 2019 explored the impact of a trial placement of new recruits into Neighbourhoods Policing. Evidence from the recruits themselves showed that they favoured this new approach - “it has allowed me to develop … dipping my toe in gently, dealing with the neighbour disputes … building my confidence of dealing with people and supporting them … you get a much better all round experience with Neighbourhoods''. This is in contrast to some who were not part of this initial pilot feeling that “being thrown in at the deep-end wasn’t the best thing” and “you’re thrown in at the deep end .. you have no idea how it works in practice … it does make things harder to accomplish” (S5).

National Impact - College of Policing

In 2019 the College of Policing invited Charman to deliver her findings, face to face and via pre-recorded video, at two national events. These events, attended by training leads and heads of professional development units from police forces across England and Wales, were considering initial entry routes into policing and the role of tutor constables. The research generated immediate and highly positive responses, delegates noting, for example, “Extremely useful research to support practical force planning around training, use of and support for tutors” and “Really good evidence to inform and challenge the current norms” (S6).

The College of Policing subsequently distributed the video of Charman’s contribution to all forces in England and Wales. Following the positive reception of her findings, she was invited in 2019 to be the sole academic advisor to the Police Transformation Working Group charged with developing national standards for tutor contables. Charman’s research now lies at the heart of the academic evidence base for these new national guidelines on tutoring (S7) published in 2020. These tutors will be, as Charman’s research has indicated, the dominant influence in the early developmental stages of every new police recruit. They will therefore be instrumental in the coaching and mentoring of the 20,000 new police officers who are to be appointed within the next three years.

Following on from Charman’s research and contribution to these national standards, she was subsequently invited by the College of Policing, as one of a number of “influential people” (Source 8) to assist with the development of a group mentoring model on equality and diversity in relation to policing cultures which has been shared with all police forces in England and Wales. Feedback from the College of Policing centred upon “how hugely successful the Perspectives sessions have been in the College. The feedback has been unanimously positive and from our feedback responses, I’m encouraged it is helping people think about how they, as individuals, contribute to a stronger sense of inclusion in the College – avoid contributing to the opposite. Your talk was great for making people reflect on College culture – and recognise that we have a role to improve, so that we can better support forces with their culture change” (S9).

Extended National and International Impact

Charman’s research is also now penetrating higher-level training and education programmes for leadership, both in policing and within the wider criminal justice system. She was invited in 2020 by Police Now and Graduates Unlocked, two national social enterprises providing graduate police and prison leadership programmes, to teach over 600 of their participants about the impact of police cultural practices on the delivery of procedural justice to citizens. Her work has also informed policy debate in a range of influential national bodies, including [text removed for publication] (S10).

Charman’s work on professionalising the police tutor’s role in the UK is also having international impact. It has been identified as “invaluable” (S10) to the ongoing development of a Nordic Standard for Police Tutoring as part of NORDCOP, the pan-Nordic partnership programme with national policing representatives from each country, which commenced in the Autumn of 2020. The convenor of this partnership, inviting Charman to address its opening workshop, described her work as an “essential contribution” that will “set the context and international perspective” for the event (S10). As a result of Charman’s input and research findings, a practitioner/academic research team was established in November 2020 from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland to replicate the research conducted in Police Socialisation, Identity and Culture: Becoming Blue in order to evaluate its impact in Nordic countries.

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

(S1) [Text removed for publication] (October 2018) Hampshire Constabulary Force level Review of Tutoring; Including Recommendations and Options.

(S2) Testimonials [text removed for publication], Hampshire Constabulary 27/11/2020

(S3) [Text removed for publication] - verbal communication, corroboration by Dr Paul Smith 19/11/2021

(S4) Testimonial [text removed for publication], Hampshire Constabulary May 2020

(S5) Evidence of research transcripts.

(S6) College of Policing Tutor Constable event - delegate feedback, October 2019.

(S7) College of Policing national standards.

(S8) Testimonial [text removed for publication], College of Policing 25/11/2020

(S9) [Text removed for publication], College of Policing feedback and delegate feedback “Perspectives Seminar Series - ‘Turning Blue’” - College of Policing 30/11/2020

(S10) Evidence of national invitations plus international [text removed for publication], in relation to NORDCOP.

Additional contextual information