3.25 A narrative review of the literature of the effect of younger police officers in age and service

Academic team: Dr Emma Williams
Policing partners: Durham Constabulary
Status: Complete

Learning and development

The Police Uplift Programme (PUP) aims to recruit 20,000 new officers by March 2023. Furthermore, 50,000 new officers will be recruited over the life of the programme. It is essential that police organisations are ready to support these younger in service officers or there are likely to be risks to the perceived attractiveness of the posts and ongoing retention.

In order to inform the development of the evidence based organisational changes potentially required to support this younger workforce in areas such as wellbeing, the impact on the current workforce and any implications for professional standards in terms of conduct and discipline, a review of current literature concerning these issues is key. This project seeks to explore the limited, police specific research in this area and any relevant literature that exists outside of the policing arena.

The key research questions are:

What are the organisational implications of having a younger workforce?
What interventions have been identified as being useful to support a younger workforce?

The PUP has commisioned and funded this review to understand what factors should be considered in order to; support a workforce comprised of proportionally yunger individuals; retain these individuals and create a positive and effective working environment for them to work within. The final product will outline the current knowledge base, the gaps in understanding and the practical recommendations which might inform the development of an organisational strategy to support new officers in post.

Outputs

Title	Outputs type	Lead academic	Year
Narrative review of the literature on the recruitment of younger police officers in in age and in service: What are the implications for the police in England and Wales	Journal article	Williams, E	2022
Reviewing younger in age and service police officers: What are the implications for the organisation?	Report	Williams, E	2021