A new era for CPRL: a trusted hub for connecting knowledge and transforming policing

The Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) has agreed a new strategy for 2027–2031, marking an important next phase in its development. Ratified by the Centre’s Members’ Governance Meeting, the strategy sets out an ambition to become the UK’s trusted national hub for policing research, innovation and professional learning: connecting local challenges with national expertise and translating knowledge into lasting improvements in policing.

Building on more than a decade of collaboration, the strategy responds to a changing policing landscape and a renewed commitment by the Open University to support its development. At its heart is a practical question: how can we bring together the knowledge, experience and expertise that already exist across the UK, and mobilise them to help policing meet the challenges ahead?

Connecting expertise at a time of change

Policing faces increasingly complex demands, from technological change and evolving patterns of crime to changing public expectations and sustained pressure on resources. Alongside these demands, organisational reform and the growing emphasis on scientific advice, professional leadership and innovation are reshaping the institutions and capabilities that support policing.

Universities and specialist research centres have much to contribute. Across the UK, expertise relevant to policing extends through behavioural and social sciences, artificial intelligence, engineering, cyber security, public health, organisational development and many other disciplines.

The opportunity is substantial. So too is the challenge of connecting this expertise with operational experience and turning it into practical change.

As Professor Clifford Stott, CPRL’s Academic Director, and Dr Nick Caveney, Chair, explain in their joint foreword: “The challenge is no longer simply to generate excellent research. Increasingly, it is to ensure that expertise wherever it exists can be connected, mobilised and translated into practical capability that benefits policing nationally.”

CPRL’s new strategy places that connecting role at the centre of its future development.

A trusted hub, open to partnership

CPRL’s ambition is to provide a trusted national platform through which policing, academia, government, industry and communities can work together around shared challenges.

The expansion of policing research and innovation capability is welcome. As the system grows, stronger connections will help prevent fragmented learning, unnecessary duplication and repeated demands on police partners. They will also make it easier to identify complementary strengths and bring the right expertise together.

Partnership with Policing Academic Centres of Excellence, specialist research centres and other universities is therefore central to CPRL’s approach. By collaborating across institutional boundaries, we can connect local experience with wider evidence, develop shared programmes and help successful innovations travel between organisations.

This is an open, non-exclusive model. CPRL’s members help shape priorities and sustain the collaborative capability on which the Centre depends. Its partnerships reach beyond the membership, drawing on expertise wherever it exists, and its work is intended to benefit policing more widely across the UK and internationally.

Trust underpins this role: trust built through sustained relationships, rigorous research, academic independence and a shared commitment to public benefit. Alongside convening others, CPRL will continue to lead internationally recognised research in areas where it possesses distinctive expertise.

Three pillars for delivering change

The strategy translates this ambition into three interconnected pillars: Convene, Mobilise and Translate.

Convene means bringing partners together to identify significant policing challenges and develop shared priorities. Local operational experience provides an essential starting point. Through sustained engagement and thematic working groups, CPRL will help practitioners, researchers and partners understand where challenges are shared and where collective action can add value.

Mobilise means assembling the expertise, partnerships and investment needed to address those priorities. CPRL will connect interdisciplinary capability across the Open University and the wider research and innovation community, developing collaborative programmes capable of generating new knowledge and practical solutions.

Translate means ensuring that research and innovation produce lasting value. Through implementation, evaluation, professional learning and communities of practice, CPRL will support the use of evidence in policy, operational practice and organisational development.

These pillars form a continuous cycle. Applying evidence generates fresh insights and questions, which inform future priorities and further research. The aim is sustained learning that leaves policing better equipped to respond to emerging demands.

A renewed Open University commitment

The strategy reflects the OU’s renewed commitment to policing through investment in CPRL and the complementary contribution of its Department for Policing (DfP).

CPRL provides strategic leadership for policing research, innovation and external partnerships. DfP provides academic leadership in professional education, qualifications and continuing professional development. Together, they connect research, learning and professional practice.

Research developed through CPRL can inform educational provision, while DfP’s engagement with practitioners helps identify emerging questions for research and innovation. CPRL’s reach across OU faculties also opens policing to expertise beyond any single discipline.

The joint foreword places this commitment within the University’s wider purpose: “The Open University's decision to invest in CPRL reflects this ambition. It also reflects the University's enduring commitment to its social mission: applying knowledge to address society's most significant challenges through openness, partnership and public engagement.”

Giving members a meaningful voice

New governance arrangements will ensure that members actively shape this next phase.

The Members’ Governance Meeting provides collective oversight: reviewing progress, agreeing strategic priorities, ratifying major decisions and overseeing membership resources. Member representation through the Executive Group and Strategic Vice-Chairs connects senior policing leadership with the Centre’s direction.

Strategic, Tactical and Operational Leads provide routes from organisational priorities into programmes and thematic collaboration. Senior Independent Advisers bring additional expertise and independent judgement where they are not representing a member organisation or where separation from their substantive responsibilities is appropriate.

Together, these arrangements support meaningful member influence while preserving the academic independence essential to credible research and evaluation.

Building capability for the public good

The strategy’s ultimate purpose is to strengthen policing’s ability to serve the public. Success will be reflected in how evidence informs decisions, how innovation improves practice and how collaboration builds lasting organisational capability.

We look forward to working with our members, other research centres and partners across policing, government, industry and communities to deliver this ambition.

By connecting local experience, national expertise and shared purpose, CPRL’s next era will help turn collective knowledge into more effective, more legitimate policing and better outcomes for society.

Published 04 November 2026

View CPRL Strategy