serving with pride and confidence police professionalism and evidence monday 8 july 2013 chief...

Serving with pride and confidence

Police Professionalism

and Evidence Monday 8 July 2013

Chief Constable Sara Thornton CBE QPM MSt (Cantab)


The Case for Professionalising the Police

BBC Radio 4 ‘Any Questions?’2 February 2013 Ken Clarke MP


Shock horror: Britain less secretive than ever

“In each case we have publicly funded organisations seemingly putting their own self-preservation above the needs of the people who pay their wages. In some cases they seem to have conceived of their own sectional interests as having been in some sense synonymous with the public interest. In others it looks to have been a matter of suppressing material that

would have caused embarrassment.” Aaronovitch D (2013) The Times


“The bottom line is that maintaining police legitimacy means actively cultivating the values and ethics of policing as a profession.”

The Case for Professionalising the Police

Smith D (2007) Legitimacy and Criminal Justice


• Possession and use of expert or specialist knowledge

• Exercise of autonomous thought and judgement

• Commitment to a set of principles

What is a Profession?

Hoyle and John (1995) Professional Knowledge and Professional Practice


Approaches to Professional Knowledge • Classical - A broad university based education and specific expertise

• Trade - Practical training and building expertise through experience

•Technocratic - Rational, scientific approach, standardised training and formal control of entry

•Reflective or creative-interpretive - Learning through action and reflection, making judgments in uncertain contexts

Lefter (2010) On Professions and Being Professional


The Case for Professionalising the Police• Democratic Accountability

– The link between police and civil society

• Legitimacy – Perception of fairness & ethical standards = compliance

• Evidence-Based – Building researched and tested best practice

• National/International Coherence – Local delivery still requires national interoperability

• Capable, Competent and Cost effective – Budget cuts demand efficiency and effectiveness

Neyroud P (2010) Review of Police Leadership and Training


What Works Centres


Climbing the ‘what works’ ladder

One-off measureNo comparison site

1

Before/after measures No comparison site

2

Before/after measuresTwo site comparisons

3

Before/after measuresMultiple site comparisons4

Randomised controlled trials5

Systematic Reviews(Based on level 3-5 studies)

Study designs increasingly rule out potential alternative causes

Statements about ‘what works’ & ‘what doesn’t

Statements about ‘what’s promising’

Study designs cannot rule out potential alternative causes

Statements about possible impact

Context & mechanisms for change

Problem solving reduces crime according to a Campbell systematic review

Evidence suggests leadership training has impact for specific groups

Taken together with information about implementation, this result suggests the increase could be attributed to the programme, although the influence of other factors cannot be ruled out.


“For the most part, managers looking to cure their organisational ills rely on obsolete knowledge they picked up in school, long-standing but never proven traditions, patterns gleaned from experience, methods they happen to be skilled in applying, and information from vendors.”

Pfeffer J, Sutton R (2006), Evidence-Based Management, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84 No. 1


“Evidence-based management...entails a distinct mind-set that clashes with the way many managers and companies operate. It features a willingness to put aside belief and conventional wisdom, the dangerous half-truths that many embrace, and replace these with an unrelenting commitment to gather the necessary facts to make more informed and intelligent decisions.”



• Demand evidence

• Examine logic

• Treat the organisation like an unfinished prototype

• Embrace the attitude of wisdom



Police Professionalism

and Evidence Monday 8 July 2013

Chief Constable Sara Thornton CBE QPM MSt (Cantab)

serving with pride and confidence police professionalism and evidence monday 8 july 2013 chief...

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