Leadership, management and organisation

Below you will find our most recent research projects from 2020 onwards.

Live projects

• Fair access landscape [Ref 3.48]. This project aims to map and evaluate Scotland's current fair access landscape, providing both a comprehensive baseline and a framework for future policy and practice.
• MPS Rapid evidence review (Leadership academy) [Ref 3.46]. This rapid evidence review aims to identify how large public organisations evaluate leadership and culture change training and to determine which approaches are most feasible for the Metropolitan Police Service.
• Student development officers/tutor constables' knowledge package [Ref 3.44]. This research will delve into the experiences of TCs supporting recruits from all entry pathways

Completed projects

• Knowledge into practice: Reviewing the knowledge into practice effects of the CPRL Tutor Constable research on the development of the Tameside (GMP) academy [Ref 3.36]. This project seeks to assess the effectiveness of Tameside's initiation of the 'Tameside District Academy'; a 15-week post-tutoring intervention designed to structure the learning and development of new officers and to address training needs and skills gaps in young in service officers' practice.
• Operation Soteria (year 3) [Ref 3.35]. This project aims to support forces with transformational change to facilitate the implementation of the new NOM model and support investigators throughout their RASSO careers.
• Rapid evidence assessment - uncomfortable knowledge [Ref 3.34]. This research will evaluate whether the concept of ‘uncomfortable knowledge’ can provide useful insights for thinking about the knowledge/action gap in policing.
• Tutor constables - A critical role for making Uplift a success (Phase 3) [Ref 3.32]. Phase 3 of the Tutor Constables research extends the question of how effective current L&D processes are for the professional socialisation and enskillment of new recruits beyond the 'tutor phase'.
• Operation Soteria Bluestone (year 2) [Ref 3.31]. This project seeks to explore the relationship between the training delivered for those involved in RASSO investigations, and how these are identified, their learning experiences and officer wellbeing.
• Building the evidence base for effective tutoring of police recruits (Phase 2) [Ref 3.30]. This project seeks to make sense of a key factor influencing the success of both the Uplift programme and the PEQF - the Tutor Constable role.
• Building an onboarding map for police forces in England and Wales [Ref 3.29]. This project aims to deliver a new onboarding map for new recruits joining the police service.
• Public innovation literature review [Ref 3.28]. To undertake a systematic literature review and synthesis of the academic literature, along with some policy literature, on the evidence about the design, processes and outcomes of public innovation.
• Building the evidence base for effective tutoring of police recruits [Ref 3.27]. This project seeks to make sense of a key factor influencing the success of both the Uplift programme and the PEQF – the Tutor Constable role.
• Operation Soteria Bluestone (year 1) [Ref 3.26]. This project seeks to explore the relationship between the training delivered for those involved in RASSO investigations, and how these are identified, their learning experiences and officer wellbeing.
• A narrative review of the literature of the effect of younger police officers in service and age [Ref 3.25]. This project seeks to explore the limited, police specific research in this area and any relevant literature that exists outside of the policing arena.
• Embedding officer learning and wellbeing in rape and serious sexual offences cases (Bluestone 1 - pilot) [Ref 3.24]. Exploring the relationship between the learning delivered for rape investigators, their developmental requirements and officer wellbeing.
• Policing uncertainty: Decisions and action in a national emergency [Ref 3.23]. The aim of the research is to identify what may be learned from the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Organizational learning in action: 2020-2021 [Ref 3.22]. This project aims to embed the key findings of the OU's action research project on Organisational Learning (3.07).
• Leadership with political astuteness: The dynamics of police working with politicians [Ref 3.21]. This project aims to understand better how senior police officers approach working with elected politicians.
• Mobilising for change in police learning and development [Ref 3.20]. This project builds on the work of the completed project 'Implementing the transformation of police learning and development'. This project aims to build on the learning, outcomes and momentum generated in the earlier work's products.

Archived projects

Below you will find our archived projects that were conducted from 2014-2019.

• Understanding culture at Milton Keynes local policing area (LPA) [Ref 3.19]. This project looks to understand the culture of the Milton Keynes workforce, so that they can better understand its strengths and weaknesses, and how it can best be delivered for their policing mission.
• Research into practice and practice in research? Exploring the role and impact of CPRL in evidence-based policing [Ref 3.18]. Exploring and understanding how research evidence from the Centre for Policing Research and Learning is used and knowledge mobilised to improve policing practice.
• Visible policing: The affective properties of police buildings images and material culture [Ref 3.17]. Examines the nature and impact of visible policing through activities and material practices that shapes perceptions of police.
• Implementing the transformation of police learning and development [Ref 3.16]. This project based on an action research approach – aims to work collaboratively with forces and national agencies to improve the training and learning development opportunities in the police workplace settings.
• Demand management in police services [Ref 3.15]. Investigating how forces are addressing mismatches in demand and capacity through changes to policy and practice.
• Organisational learning [Ref 3.07]. Action research programme to understand and improve knowledge/learning development, deployment and dissemination.
• Leadership to create public value [Ref 3.05]. This project looked at how police leaders perceive and conceptualise public value, and whether this is different to the views of the public.
• Ethical practice in policing [Ref 3.04]. A qualitative analysis of policing professionals' engagement with the codes of ethics and how this relates to their professional identity and their practice.
• Demand management – study of internal demand pressures [Ref 3.03]. This project is part of the Centre's research into ways in which demand can be managed and sustainably reduced.
• Challenges and possibilities of the implementation of the policing Code of Ethics [Ref 3.02]. A qualitative analysis of the stories and accounts of officers who have worked with and under the new policing code of ethics.
• Rebuilding of organisational trust after a period of difficulty [Ref 3.01]. This research investigated the concept of crisis, explained how crises can lead to blame and why crisis leadership is a key component of policing.