Getting the grease to the squeak: understanding the operational and cultural context in which science and evidence can enhance police practice

Pinchen, Lynsey (2022) Getting the grease to the squeak: understanding the operational and cultural context in which science and evidence can enhance police practice. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

Within England and Wales, the professionalisation of policing agenda has elevated the requirement for police officers, as professional practitioners, ‘to create, review and use’ research evidence to inform their ‘policies, practices, and decisions’ (College of Policing, 2020). Despite an emerging body of literature which considers officer receptivity to research more broadly, this often ignores the voice of frontline practitioners. This thesis has aimed to understand the practitioner’s views, of the operational and cultural context in which science and evidence can enhance their practice. It offers a timely and original contribution to the academic understanding of frontline officers’ receptivity to research, at a time when police professionalisation is gathering significant momentum.

This study adopted a mixed-methods convergent parallel research design, underpinned by a framework based on police occupational culture theory and Lipsky’s Theory of Street-Level Bureaucracy (Lipsky, 2010). In the quantitative strand, an online questionnaire was used (n=335), and in the qualitative strand, Q-methodology was used to explore constables’ and sergeants’ views towards research in frontline policing (n=57). Further qualitative data was obtained using Q-sorting as a cognitive tool, a novel method, to enhance the narrative of the study’s discussion.

Findings indicate that officers are broadly open to research, however, they are less convinced of the role it ought to play, and the value it can bring to their practices. While there are significantly differing views between the ranks, these are not binary in nature, and there is complexity within and between the ranks. The theoretical implications of this are that it presents new evidence that there is a range of positions and strands within occupational sub-culture. Furthermore, academic attainment appears to significantly influence officers’ perspectives, which is important to wider developments in police education.

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