Category Archives: police

‘You won’t scare my mummy, she’s a police officer’: the impact of policing on parenting

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by Fran Wright, Lecturer in Policing Organisation and Practice at The Open University

Most parents would probably agree that there is never a ‘right time’ to start a family, but as a police officer I would argue there really isn’t. Entering the police service twenty years ago, I naively assumed that one day I would perfectly balance motherhood with my dream career. Having made carefully considered choices and countless self-affirmations that having a baby, ‘won’t change me,’ eighteen years and two children later, I can say quite categorically that it has.

As I have stepped further away from frontline duties, and watched my children grow, I have become more aware of the impact my dual role as a ‘police mother’ has had on my family and I over the years. Only now, with an appetite for police research (and a wealth of amusing anecdotes), do I concede that my daughter is right when she says, ‘you only say that because you’re a police officer.’ Reading a piece by Lennie (2018) entitled ‘Policing parenting: Psychological challenges for officers and their families,’ caused me to reflect on my own experiences of this phenomenon, and to consider whether being a police officer has informed my approach to parenting, or more importantly, negatively impacted my children.

I have often likened my operational role to the 1980’s children’s programme Mr Ben, walking into the locker room at one end as a wife and mother, and moments later, miraculously reappearing as a police officer. Enter the hypervigilant, over-protective, and at times border-line neurotic mother; exit the calm, level-headed, police officer, able to robustly cope with whatever the next ten hours might present. Violanti (1999) asserts that ‘police officers are expected to be combat ready 24/7, whilst maintaining a normal social presence,’ and yet I find myself with an ‘alter-ego.’ So when and how exactly did this dual-personality manifest?

As a new mother I was based in my home city, policing the streets in which I lived. Reflecting on a trepidatious early trip out with the pram, perhaps I should have realised when my over-reaction to a well-known ‘customer,’ (who had merely recognised me and shouted across the road in acknowledgement), was perhaps what Agocs et al. (2015) would consider a ‘danger-protection strategy.’ In a state of gut-wrenching panic, my instinct was to run from this once troublesome teenager, whom I now perceived as a violent monster. A lack of engagement with early police research in this field served me well, since Manning (1978) concluded, that from a police perspective, ‘people cannot be trusted, and they are dangerous.’ Had I applied an evidence-based approach at this stage, I may well have chosen to end my police career there and then.

As the newness of parenting abated, perhaps one could have expected to feel more relaxed, and able to enjoy the company of toddler-friends in the joyous surroundings of the soft-play centre. Conversely, this was to become a regularly traumatic experience for this ‘police mother.’ The nature of my police role triggered involuntary behaviours and suspicions of which my friends were oblivious. I was on ‘high-alert’ to lone males who might be ‘watching’ children; a scenario bearing remarkable similarities to that at a splash park described in a study of police mothers by Agocs et al (2015). The reality was of course that these were probably innocent men watching their own family as they played.

As friends casually tossed aside their handbags, mine remained strapped firmly to my body. The avoidance of the opportunist thief, far more exigent than the hindrance which it caused as I clambered through the cargo netting in pursuit of a toddler that I would surely never see again should I lose sight even for a second. The small inadequate exit gate could easily facilitate a child abduction, or at best a high-risk missing person.

Attendance at the play centre remained incessant during the early school years, since the ‘play centre party’ was the celebration of choice for what seemed an eternity. Triggers differed however once the children played independently. My heightened anxiety focussed on the potential for injury, (actual) loss of teeth, or the recognition of a wanted person, once spotted across the ball pit at a particularly ‘choice’ venue.

As the children have reached their milestones, so too my ‘danger-protection strategies’ have developed. Perhaps this is the reason that my son’s reception teacher described him as a ‘wise head on young shoulders?’ Clearly those ‘teachable moments’ that I have unwittingly instilled have served him well; he has an excellent grasp of road safety, a thorough understanding of the consequences of not wearing a helmet for any ‘wheeled activity’ and would never dream of leaving his scooter unattended for fear of it being stolen! My daughter’s similar hard-line approach to road-safety occasionally left her unable to catch the school bus due to her literal interpretation of my repeated instruction to ‘only cross the road if you can see absolutely nothing for a mile in either direction.’

An early grasp of ‘stranger-danger’ was equally reassuring, if not slightly alarming. When offered a sweet by a friendly store worker, my daughter’s hysterical over-reaction as she believed she was ‘being stolen,’ left the poor woman bewildered. This was perhaps a light-bulb-moment, and a clear demonstration of how my lack of trust in others had caused me to transfer my own fears to my children through the ‘what if’ scenarios I have developed throughout their childhood.

Years of policing in a city centre environment, dealing with trauma, risk, and danger, have evidently shaped my perceptions and influenced the ‘danger- protection strategies’ employed to protect them. I recall my daughter preparing for her first shopping trip with friends in her early teens. As we rehearsed the relevant ‘what if’ scenario, I unconsciously applied the 5 WH (who, why, what, when, how) questioning technique, honed through years of police interviewing. Despite being reassured by her graphic response as to how she would evade such danger, the disproportionate level of violence that would be deployed in the ‘stranger’ scenario required a timely intervention regarding ‘use of force’ and ‘proportionality’!

As we embark on the next phase of childhood, my hypervigilance heightens; fatal road traffic collisions, stranger rape and student suicide, all potential consequences as my eldest learns to drive, enters higher education, and enjoys the associated nightlife. Research suggests that I am not alone with this ‘worst-case scenario’ outlook. Agocs et al. (2015) conclude that ‘police-women are super-vigilant parents; they see more, know more, worry more and warn more.’ A reliable evidence-base for my own self-doubt, or further protestations from the children.

As I recall these anecdotes, which at times have been a source of amusement, they serve as a constant reminder of my privileged, if not damaging, position as a ‘police mother.’ I ponder the ‘emotional labour’ (Lennie, 2018) expended in my efforts to protect, compounded by the guilt of balancing the demands of work and home, as I strived to be a ‘good mother.’

Despite my idiosyncrasies and the embarrassing moments, I know the children are proud. My donning of a wagon driver’s high visibility coat at the scene of a collision was a particularly low point for my teenage daughter, although she did later concede that she felt proud. In contrast, our collective family response to a suspected drink-driver following a day trip, was deemed ‘epic’ by them both. They have always enjoyed the ‘stories’ imploring me to describe the ‘worst thing’ I have seen or dealt with; a censored response, carefully constructed, with incidents downplayed or even fabricated, contributing further to the ‘emotional labour’ involved in balancing the realities of life, with emotional damage limitation.

Through my endeavours as a ‘police mother’ I appear to have raised two highly sensible individuals, neither of whom present as ‘emotionally damaged.’ Whereas I shoulder an aggregation of anxieties with every passing milestone, regularly behaving in a way which I am informed by my daughter is ‘not normal.’ Recently whilst embracing her, I instinctively reached into her wide-opened shoulder bag, demonstrating the ease in which her purse could be stolen. Her response to this mock theft scenario was utter contempt. A stark contrast to when she proudly informed her nursery friends, (as they attempted to scare me with a plastic dinosaur), ‘you won’t scare my mummy, she’s a police officer.’ She was right; stepping out of ‘Mr Ben’s’ changing room into my ‘police world,’ I barely ever felt scared despite the risks I faced. And yet, where the children are concerned I have consistently and instinctively displayed behaviour which confirms that my police role has indeed informed my parenting ‘style.’ And if further evidence was required to corroborate my daughter’s claim that I really do, ‘only say that because I’m a police officer,’ then my response to a recent question from my son, provides validation. He asked, ‘is it scary being a parent?’ my response…….. ‘it’s scarier than being a police officer!’

 

The Police Education Qualification Framework: What do we know and where is it going?

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by Dr Emma Williams, Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships, The Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) at The Open University and Jennifer Norman, Head of Policing Organisation and Practice at The Open University.

The Police Education Qualification Framework (AKA degree gate) remains a contentious subject. Recent commentary around the ‘degree debate’ was triggered by the Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s request in November 2022 for the College of Policing (CoP) to consider a fourth ‘non-degree’ route for new police recruits. This blog isn’t intended to provide an opinion on what a fourth route should look like, or in fact whether there should be a change. What we will do here is reflect on our involvement in the police education, research and learning sphere over several years. We’ve worked in operational and strategic policing environments as researchers. We have spent a large part of our careers as policing academics delivering policing degrees to serving officers/staff and conducted several research projects related to the theme of professionalisation in policing. It is this that the PEQF originally sought to achieve.

Some of the criticisms of the PEQF relate to the academic nature of the degree level entry and the lack of relevance to operational roles. We would argue, having taught serving police officers, that the theoretical understanding from policing research and scholarship, combined with the practical experience of officers working in the field is where the learning really happens.

Some of the themes covered in the PEQF curriculum provide the reasons and justifications for why elements of police work are so essential. For example, the role of community police officers, community engagement and the impact this has on police legitimacy, trust, and confidence. In addition, police officers often encounter individuals that present a number of complex issues related to vulnerability. The input of certain academic evidence can help officers structure the way they engage with these members of the community in inclusive and fair ways. Therefore, the key to making academic knowledge relevant, is to situate it in the context of what the police know and do every day.

Sometimes these positive aspects of the PEQF get lost in binary conversations and considerations about what academic level police education should be. Additionally, at a time when policing is trying to be more efficient and effective, focusing on what learning, education and research can bring to policing in positive way, can facilitate more objective discussions about the role of education in policing.

Themes that have arisen from the work we’ve done

Professionalism is linked to knowledge and officers feeling empowered, able and equipped to do their job. Research indicates that officers feel their decision-making is enhanced from the knowledge input, it can make them feel more confident to problem solve with partner agencies, and those with degree level education have an increased sense of professionalism.

Research conducted in specialist areas of the police also shows links to welfare, personal efficacy, and personal accomplishment in the role. Similarly with new recruits, national surveys demonstrate that those who have completed the PEQF feel more equipped to do their role compared to those cohorts of trainees who have completed the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP).

One of the distinct differences between the IPLDP and the PEQF is the level of learning delivered. The IPLDP requires officers to demonstrate their ability to ‘follow instructions’ at level 3. The PEQF develops officers’ skills at level 6, to think critically about problems they face and encourages them to use innovative practices beyond following instructions. Given the diverse landscape within which policing operates, it is essential that officers have the scope to move beyond a template version of policing practice and deliver context led policing which recognises difference and individual needs.

We have also recognised from a phased project we have undertaken for the Uplift Programme, that the support on the ground for both the new recruits and those constables who tutor them is inconsistent, can lack strategic support and vision, and often the tutors are not given the development they need to be effective in post. The learning time expected from organisations is often not guaranteed, which causes tension between officers trying to complete their academic study and the organisational need for them to be operational. Additionally, the research has found repetition in assessment processes which can cause frustration and confusion about where to prioritise their time. National surveys have found that this burden can have negative implications for the wellbeing of apprentices.

The original aim of the PEQF was intended to include supporting professional training and education for serving officers and police staff through the process of the recognition of prior experiential learning (RPEL). In our opinion, this work remains undeveloped at this time but is crucial for equity and accessibility to continued professional development (CPD). Furthermore, if forces are given the allowance to decide whether they run the PEQF locally, or remain with the IPLDP there is a risk that a two-tiered police service will prevail. Placing the learning entirely back to local delivery is likely to put significant strain on learning and development departments and limits both serving officers and staffs CPD. Furthermore, it will compromise the specialist courses required in some areas of policing such as investigating rape and sexual offences. Working with HEIs in a truly collaborative way with the police has been identified in some PEQF partnerships. These approaches should be harnessed and rather than focusing on the negative aspect of this field, the good practices in operation should be shared and developed further.

Ultimately, whilst the findings of this research and other pieces of work have been conflated here, we hope that they feed into ways forward for improving the police education landscape for both the individual officers and the police organisations themselves.

It seems ironic that we operate in an environment that puts onus on evidence led practice, efficiency, and the correct deployment of resources and yet with reference to the Home Secretary’s announcement, it seems equipping officers with the skills to understand research and evidence and how to apply it in practice is being undermined. Developing the skills needed to draw on different forms of knowledge from research and other formal / informal sources arguably aids the ability to think widely and objectively about different problems. After all policing is about people. It is about risk and harm. If we don’t equip officers with this kind of knowledge from the start, we maybe doing them a disservice when they are on the frontline.

Equipping officers to make women safer from Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) – insights from Operation Soteria Bluestone

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Dr Emma Williams, Dr Linda Maguire, Dr Arun Sondhi and Richard Harding, The Open University, Centre for Policing Research and Learning. Operation Soteria Bluestone team, Pillar 4

Welcome to the fifth and final (but no means least) blog in this special series celebrating International Women’s Day.  Today’s blog shares important insights about the ground-breaking project currently underway to transform the police response to Rape and Serious Sexual Offences.

Investigating Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) is complex and is one of the most challenging aspects of violence against women and girls for the criminal justice system. It requires specialist knowledge input and officers who are confident in their roles to undertake this task. The complexity arises partly from the fact that many of the victims of these offences often have many vulnerabilities. This means that many RASSO victims are far removed from the notion of an ‘ideal victim’ and it is often these factors that impact on their receiving a fair process. Hence, women with the most serious vulnerabilities and likely to be targeted and groomed by perpetrators and as a result, are also those most at risk of their cases resulting in attrition.

Further complexity arises from the fact that many investigations involve difficult interpersonal relationships, where there are often no independent witnesses, and where victim accounts and behaviours can be misinterpreted through many false lenses, including misogyny, homophobia, myth and misconception, and ignorance of the effects of trauma. All of these factors require investigators to have specialist and expert knowledge. They should have completed appropriate learning and development opportunities to enable them to have the knowledge, attitudes and skills to understand and effectively engage with the complexities of RASSO investigation and the related trauma.

Operation Soteria Bluestone is a UK Home Office-funded programme designed to improve the investigation of RASSO in England and Wales. Our findings confirm the systemic challenges that police services are facing in trying to manage the demand for RASSO investigation.  In our review of learning provision and officer welfare we found that investigators, at all levels, are aware of the impacts of cases being allocated to officers with, often, limited experience or learning. Where experienced investigators were available, particularly in supervisory roles, they often had limited knowledge refresh since their initial courses and were sometimes struggling to support less experienced colleagues whilst managing their own caseloads.  Collectively we heard investigators express their frustration at wanting to fulfil their mission to solve crime, bring perpetrators to justice and do the right thing for victims, whilst working in an environment that made achieving those goals increasingly challenging. Morally this presents huge challenges for officers involved in investigating this crime type.

Part of our approach was to explore the relationship some of these issues may have with the concept of occupational burnout. The notion of burnout is well established in policing. Over recent years it has been considered to be increasingly prevalent as a result of austerity measures and changing operational demands. Factors relevant to RASSO investigations also include the increased requirements for processing and investigating digital evidence, the need to provide a victim-orientated service alongside the changing relationship with the Crown Prosecution Service, which has all added to an increased workload for officers.

Factors encompassing burnout include exhaustion, feelings of negativity or cynicism and reduced levels of personal accomplishment. People who are emotionally exhausted tend to feel over-extended and physically drained. Cynicism can manifest itself in greater detachment or depersonalisation from victims, with feelings that officers have achieved little success at work. Symptoms of burnout tend to report physical and mental exhaustion and reduced ability to care for the victims with which they work, leaving a sentiment that their work makes little difference. Despite the prevalence of burnout symptoms, police officers are unlikely to seek help or support within their organization or externally for professional treatment due to fear of stigma or loss of job role.

Our work on Operation Soteria Bluestone has explored the learning, development and wellbeing climate for officers investigating RASSO. A key finding is that predictors are not specific to a single police force, but common to all forces. The findings suggest the importance of the wider organisation in influencing emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. The causes of burnout are consistent with the literature on policing including perceptions of workload, large caseloads and the detrimental perceived effect on an officer’s work-life balance. We identified high levels of stress and ill-health, alongside pressures to come to work despite being unwell. Whilst those involved in the management and investigation of RASSO cases are exposed to vicarious trauma through their work with victims, they have additional and varying degrees of trauma through the organisational process itself.

In addition, the high number of caseloads places a burden on the learning climate, reducing the time that officers have to receive specialist training to do their job. We believe that if officers are equipped with the proper resources and specialist training, they will be empowered to do their job and this will impact positively on their wellbeing.  If these resources are low and demand is high, as our findings suggest, burnout can occur. Therefore, the knowledge to date from the work on Soteria Bluestone offer really important insights into the relationship between the police organisations’ commitment to enabling their staff to deliver professional police investigations in the context of RASSO. The connection between officer competence and confidence and the provision and ability to access learning, to support their development and officer wellbeing, is vital.

With a new National Operating Model for investigating RASSO in development for implementation, police organisations will be better prepared to improve the current situation for their workforces. Organisational change is needed to really enable, involve and equip officers, not only to enhance their own wellbeing, but ultimately to improve outcomes for victims. As a research team we are excited to be working with forces and helping them to prepare for managing the provision of specialist learning, development and wellbeing support RASSO officers, to enable policing to make transformational change in this crucial area of justice.

 

Concluding remarks

Thank you for reading our blog posts this month.  As you can see, here at OU Policing we are committed to conducting research about issues that affect the lives of women.  The project we have shared this month are underpinned by a desire to improve women’s lives – be that through the criminal justice response to domestic abuse and rape, girls experiences of criminal exploitation, or women’s experiences as mothers in the police.  If you would like to know more about our work, or you would like to work with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us at OUPC@open.ac.uk

The Motherhood Penalty: Evidence of maternal bias in the workplace and why policing needs to do more.  

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by Kendal Wright and Dr Keely Duddin, Policing Organisation and Practice, The Open University

photo by https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/

“Before Breaking The Glass Ceiling, Women Must Climb The Maternal Wall” 

Mary Ferrante

Welcome to the third blog in this special series celebrating International Women’s Day.  Todays post shares an insight into a ground-breaking study exploring women’s experiences of motherhood in the police.

Last summer our research team pressed the ‘go live’ button on our pregnancy and maternity experiences survey, what happened next took us beyond our expectations. Within a two-month period we had almost 6000 responses, and over 9000 free text responses.  We believe this survey to be largest piece of research to have ever been conducted on this topic in policing, and in the public sector in the UK.

As we watched the responses continue to grow, it hit home how important this research is to so many people and how much progress we still need to make. It was a humbling experience to see the time and effort participants took to communicate their stories and we had many people comment on how cathartic the process was in enabling them to voice their experiences.

Maternal bias background

Research around maternal bias is gaining traction and research shows real evidence of a level of maternal bias in organisations, where some colleagues can view mothers, – or pregnant women as less competent and less committed to their jobs (Arena et al, 2023). Further research (Ogden, 2019) has suggested that working mothers can face a specific type of bias named ‘maternal wall bias’, which can manifest itself in different ways, for example in conducting performance evaluations or for taking on challenging assignments or promotion opportunities because of their assumed lack of time and desire (Ogden, 2019). In a milestone study, Correll and colleagues (2007) found evidence for a ‘motherhood penalty’ which demonstrated that working mothers were only recommended 47% of the time for hire, vs 84% of female applicants who didn’t have children and were penalised on a host of measures, including perceived competence. Furthermore, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (2018) found that a third of employers felt that women who become pregnant and new mothers in work are ‘generally less interested’ in career progression, when compared to other employees in their company.

What the survey tells us

As we started to analyse the results, we found 29.2% of free-text responses contained an element of mothers experiencing maternal bias.  Take that into consideration of how many free text responses were received, that’s almost 3000 responses where a mother has felt bias towards her as an individual in the workplace since announcing their pregnancy or returning from maternity leave.

“I was told during my last pregnancy that if I wanted a promotion I would need to “stop getting pregnant”. This was after the loss of my first pregnancy after joining the force”.

Police staff/ Practitioner/ Last period of maternity 2-3 years ago

“Told not to consider promotion until I was no longer a flexible worker”

Police Officer/ Sgt/ Last period of maternity 5+ years ago

“I think regardless of how supportive supervisors and colleagues are – a new mother is never considered for promotions etc. You are almost seen as a liability because you take care of a young child. They would prefer single workers who do not have other responsibilities. It’s not an open culture but definitely exists.”

Police staff/ Practitioner/ Last period of maternity 1-2 years ago

“Better support needed on return from maternity leave and balancing new responsibilities with work responsibilities.  Also, action is needed on unconscious bias where managers assume that you want to focus solely on your children and are not interested in development anymore.”

Police Officer/ Inspector/ Last period of maternity 1-2 years ago

Why it’s important

It’s an evolutionary fact that a large number of employed women will go on to have at least one period of maternity leave during their career. However, there has been little police-based research published recently around officers and staff returning to the workplace after maternity leave.

Historically where police organisations have been male-dominated places of work, organisations now actively promote recruitment drives with one of the aims to diversify the workplace to suit the communities they serve, including increasing the number of female officers recruited. This concerted effort has led to the number of female officers in UK police forces increasing to over 50,000 (Gov.uk 2022). Charman & Tyson (2022) carried out research examining the stark increase of voluntary resignations, some of those reasons cited included the lack of visibility of flexible working mothers in senior roles. Findings in our research support the notion that police organisations must transform working practices around embracing and supporting motherhood if they wish to retain their much longed-for and much-needed diversified workforce.

Let’s not continue to make assumptions on a mother’s behalf about their ambition and commitment to the role just because they had a baby.  What a mother doesn’t learn about time management, multi-tasking, patience, and negotiation when dealing with a teething baby isn’t worth knowing.

Policing for the future needs to embrace working mothers and put an end to the maternal bias they may face as they return to work, regardless of their aspirations. “Have a heart, remember we (mothers) are as much value to the organisation as others…” (Participant 132). Mothers should feel supported and valued by their organisations and policing as a career shouldn’t result in the “motherhood penalty”.

If you would like to know more about this research, please contact us at

Kendal.wright@open.ac.uk

Keely.Duddin@open.ac.uk

Celebrating International Women’s Day at OU Policing

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by Dr Holly Taylor-Dunn and Dr Anna Hopkins of The Open University’s Policing Organisation and Practice department

Welcome to a special series of our OU Policing blog in recognition of International Women’s Day which is celebrated on 8th March.

This is the first in a series of 5 blog posts that will be published every Wednesday during March 2023.  We wanted to share details about the work we are doing here at OU Policing in support of women and the issues they face.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘embrace equity’.  The organisers are calling on everyone to recognise that equality and equity are different things.  They are trying to highlight the fact that women face particular challenges and barriers in their lives that prevent them fulfilling their opportunity.  It isn’t enough to say we will treat everyone the same – because we aren’t the same – and we don’t experience the same obstacles in life.

So how is this relevant to policing?  Well, it’s really relevant.  For example, we don’t expect the police to treat all victims of crime in the exact same way, because their needs are not the same.  This is especially important when we talk about crimes such as domestic abuse or sexual violence, as these are crimes that affect the lives of women to a much greater extent than men.   For the last 50 years, women’s advocates have been calling on the police (and wider criminal justice system) to take these forms of abuse seriously and to provide effective support to victim/survivors.  But as you will see in the blog posts on 8th and  29th March there is still a way to go.

The debate around equality and equity is also relevant to policing as a workplace.  One of the projects that will be shared in this blog series relates to women’s experience of maternity leave and returning to work in the police – this project highlights the challenges faced by women with childcare responsibilities which can directly impact their career opportunities.

Current challenges in policing and the wider criminal justice system?

The last few years have been unprecedented in terms of women’s relationships with the police.   The murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, followed by the horrendous crimes of David Carrick have understandably eroded trust and confidence in the police for many women.  The increased focus on police officers as potential perpetrators of violence against women resulted in the Centre for Women’s Justice launching a ‘super-complaint’ against the police.  This super-complaint alleged that the police were failing to deal appropriately with domestic abuse cases involving serving police officers.

But not only have police forces faced criticism for how they have dealt with police officers who commit violence against women, they have also been criticised for how they have dealt with reported offences from the public.  A government body responsible for inspecting police forces raised concerns about the number of violent crimes against women and girls that were closed by the police as requiring ‘no further action’.  The Inspectors were worried that the proportion of cases being closed in this way had increased a lot in recent years and they were not convinced that victim/survivors had been consulted about these decisions.

So, what is being done to address problems such as these?

The current challenges facing the police in terms of women’s trust and confidence may sound bleak.  However, there is so much work underway in police forces across the UK who are genuinely committed to getting it right. Nationally, for the first time ever a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Taskforce has been set up. Led by DCC Maggie Blyth the taskforce addresses VAWG across Three Pillars:

  • Build Trust and Confidence – Policing cannot claim to take VAWG seriously if it does not respond immediately and robustly to VAWG-related allegations and root out those who do not uphold the culture and high standards that the public rightly expects from it.
  • Relentless Pursuit of Perpetrators – Perpetrators are the one and only cause of VAWG.
  • Safer Spaces – Locations where women and girls are most at risk from VAWG maybe online, behind closed doors or in public spaces, to target activity the riskiest locations need to be identified

Here at the OU we work in collaboration with 24 police forces throughout the UK via the Centre for Policing Research and Learning.  This collaboration brings together academics and police forces to address issues that are important to policing.  Given the current situation, it may not surprise you to learn that many of the projects we are currently working on are focussed on violence against women and girls.

We are working on projects exploring how to improve the police response to rape and sexual violence, a project examining the reasons why victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence may not want to support a police investigation, and a project investigating cases of domestic abuse that are prosecuted without the support of the victim.

It is important to highlight that all of these projects are supported by the police forces in our partnership – they recognise how important this work is and they want to improve.  We are also developing a project looking at domestic abuse within the police.  This will consider the work that is being done to support officers and staff who are affected by domestic abuse as well as how they deal with those who perpetrate it.

Concluding remarks

Despite the significant impact of recent events on women’s trust and confidence in the police, it is important to recognise the amount of work currently underway to address these issues.  The reality is that in order for women and girls to succeed and reach their potential, they should firstly be able to achieve equity in all aspects of their lives which would in turn would contribute towards a life free from violence, abuse and fear.  In order to get there we need to work together to change the structures in our society that allow such abuses to occur – including the police and wider criminal justice system.

Organisational commitment to learning and development and the link to officer welfare

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Dr Emma Williams of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research explores the importance of CPD in wellbeing, particularly in relation to equipping officers with the skills, knowledge and learning required to investigate complex rape cases and sexual offences more effectively.

“There is literally no teaching, no training and I think there could maybe a better input on what is expected of you as an OIC. But you literally have to do or die.” (Detective Inspector)

Knowledge attainment is not linked simply to individual development but also to organisational learning and improvement.

In the context of policing specialist areas, organisations need to think carefully about how to enable and empower their workforce through continuing professional development (CPD), and assist them in becoming both confident and capable in their roles.

Evetts (2011) suggests that this enabling of professional service delivery links to organisational legitimacy, in that decision making and subsequent actions are informed and based on appropriate knowledge input.

In the field in which policing operates, methods of criminality, offender typologies, victims and vulnerabilities change at pace, especially with the fast-moving development of technology, digital platforms, and societal change. Therefore, officers need regular professional development input to upskill and update their knowledge based on the transient nature of policing as an occupation.

The police have received ongoing criticism for their investigation of rape over a long period of time, yet changes to justice outcomes remain challenging. Complex areas of policing require effective understanding by officers; without that, the opportunity for change is put at risk and improvement stalled.

The importance of CPD and knowledge input has been discussed at length within this series of articles. What this piece aims to explore, or at least question, is the link between the learning development offer by police organisations and the wellbeing and individual sense of professionalism held by their officers, specifically in the context of the investigation of rape and sexual offending.

Empowered through knowledge

Wilcock and Townsend (2000) argue that enhancement of a professional identity through CPD is critical to wellbeing. More often than not in policing discussions about wellbeing – especially when discussing officers involved in crimes such as child and adult sexual offending – we see reference to case-related trauma, exposure to indecent images etc, but very little debate about organisational stressors and how they relate to welfare in policing.

Emerging findings from a recent research project on wellbeing and learning and development among investigating officers involved in rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) – part of the wider national Project Soteria / Bluestone research – suggest that while officers are aware of the need for more knowledge input in this area, it is not prioritised within their organisations.

Workload, austerity cuts and the national detective crisis has meant that processes of restructure and the refiguration of investigation teams have become more concerned with capacity than capability within those teams.

This leaves officers stripped of the specialist and expert knowledge they need to professionally investigate cases that involve complex victims, relationships, trauma, and questions of consent.

Birch et al (2017) argue that organisational justice is central to this debate as the workforce need to feel included, fairly supported to do their job and empowered through knowledge. Without this, coping mechanisms put in place by workers will leads to stress and potential burnout. This is becoming clear in the emerging findings in this research.

Development plans

Our work on Bluestone has revealed a clear reliance in policing on omnicompetence in RASSO investigations.

While the generic procedural knowledge taught in other investigative courses is applied, the complexities officers face in understanding the intersectional issues involved in attrition – such as victim/offender relationships, vulnerabilities, previous criminality, and the chaotic lifestyles of some of the victims – is often understood through the lens of past experience or embedded cultural knowledge. This is often imparted through peers.

What is more problematic with this, in the current policing climate, is the high number of very young-in-service officers who are placed in roles to meet capacity demand without being empowered effectively to deliver what is needed.

What is required here for the officers is specialist knowledge where officers are provided with input at the start of their journey working in RASSO investigations which is continued throughout their career in this field.

This article is not focused on the issues the research found with the Serious Sexual Assault Investigative Development Programme (SSAIDP), which is the learning input that all officers working in this field should be provided. It is more concerned with the lack of individual development plans for officers which should be in place to update the skills required in this fast-moving area of criminality.

While statements about time, workload and other issues featured in conversations about the lack of CPD, what also came up time and time again was the concern officers have for their team members wellbeing if they were to have days off allocated to development options.

There appears to an assumption that demand juxtaposed with a lack of detectives needs to leave learning as secondary rather than an essential part of improvements in this area.

Placing more value on learning in this area is likely to make investigations more efficient as officers will be better equipped and competent to undertake the work with the knowledge they need to do so professionally.

At the current time the research suggests that learning conflicts with officers’ desire to manage the workload. However, paradoxically, this lack of development adds to their anxiety and welfare issues.

Transformational change

Key research states that organisational burnout can occur when a lack of resources, personnel included, is matched with high work demand.

Organisations have a clear role and responsibility to empower and provide their staff with the resources they need to deliver in their role. The value of CPD in this area is essential if we expect officers to make improvements in justice outcomes for all rape victims.

The relationship between organisational justice and procedural justice is clear, and if officers are falling back on culturally entrenched knowledge and practice and perceptions of victim deservedness to make decisions in this area, improvements are at risk – as is the fair distribution of justice.

There needs to be transformational change in the area of RASSO learning and CPD which makes a commitment to empowering officers and ensuring competence and subsequently a commitment to the public and victims to genuinely improve practice in this field.

 

References

Birch, P., Vickers, M.H., Kennedy, M. and Galovic, S. (2017) ‘Wellbeing, occupational justice and police practice: an ‘affirming environment’?’, Police practice & research, 18 (1), pp. 26-36

Evetts, J. (2011) ‘A new professionalism? Challenges and opportunities’, Current Sociology, 59(4), pp. 406-422.

Wilcock, A. and Townsend, E. (2000) ‘Occupational terminology interactive dialogue’, Journal of Occupational Science, 7(2), pp. 84-86.

CPD and reflective practice: Improving investigations and wellbeing in rape and serious sexual offences

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by Dr Nicky Miller, Dr Emma Williams and Richard Harding of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning

Learning in policing should be continuous, iterative and lifelong, taking place throughout the career journey of a police officer or member of police staff.

While many of the problems facing policing are complex, contested and wicked, it operates in a constantly changing field, which is not static and unidimensional but complex, dynamic and often transient.
This means that knowledge resources, accessed via a variety of different methods and means, are both critical and central to the continued development of practice, effectiveness and the service delivered to the publics that policing serves.

These different knowledge resources might involve research evidence, policy developments, legislative change, and data analytics to mention but a few. However, what are rarely systematically captured, critically evaluated and shared are reflections on practice and experiences as a method to enable learning and improvement.

Given the extensive knowledge and experience held by officers, standardising its organisational capture could be considered in the drive to improve efficiency.

Reflective practice and RASSO

Reflective practice is more than simply looking back on an event. Reviewing retrospectively is the first step on the path to development. It is about understanding our actions, our current levels of knowledge, and our existing skill set. It is the ability to recognise gaps or deficits and then identify approaches to remedy any issues and address shortcomings.

Reflecting on experiences, both negative and positive, offers a channel for individual, team, and organisational development, all of which are central to the creation of an effective learning environment and subsequently organisational improvement.

The Centre for Police Research and Learning (CPRL) is currently involved in Project Soteria Bluestone, a Home Office-funded project exploring the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO).

The pillar of work CPRL is leading on is examining ‘learning and development and officer wellbeing’. There are several factors attached to this pillar of work, but one of the strongest themes emerging from the work to date is the importance of reflective practice as a form of continuous professional development and iterative learning for those involved in investigating RASSO.

In this short piece we will draw on our work in Avon and Somerset Police to highlight the potential of reflective practice to improve the investigation of RASSO and access to justice for victims of these crimes.
Given the extreme complexity involved in the investigation of RASSO cases reported to the police, iterative learning, the critical assessment of practice and the establishment of feedback loops into learning cycles is essential.

While we would always advocate specialism through the delivery of specialist knowledge to officers that investigate these highly complex crimes, to date in our Bluestone work, we have predominantly seen didactic approaches to learning, a limited application of learning into practice and options for CPD, and no dedicated time for reflective practice and critical thinking about decisions made or the application of learning for the purposes of creating further personal and professional learning.

Improved service delivery and wellbeing

Officers we spoke to provided a clear narrative about the benefits of such reflective approaches more specifically from both a learning and wellbeing perspective.

The wider benefits of reflective practice per se, but particularly in the context of RASSO, link to the potential improvement to the service delivered to victims and survivors – and more broadly the quality of investigations as they move through the criminal justice system – as well as officer wellbeing.

Furthermore, integrating reflective practices at the heart of operational and learning activities offers individuals and organisations the opportunity to use these reflections on what worked well and what did not to create more iterative approaches to learning.

Such methods would facilitate the integration of lessons learned into a more effective learning cycle, and help to identify core areas for focused self-directed and organisationally provided CPD sessions.

Such learning might also provide examples of cases to support more blended learning approaches which explore ‘real’ cases to better connect theory and practice using learning content that resonates with practitioners in a more applied way.

Finally promising or innovative ideas that help to improve the delivery of a professional investigations for the victim could be shared.

Transformational change

By having key reflection points and dedicated reflection time within the process of an investigation strategy or case review, certain assumptions and regular patterns of thoughts and behaviours that can adversely shape thinking, decisions, actions and outcomes can be challenged.

In a crime type that involves such high levels of attrition at the police investigative stage of the criminal justice system these challenges are clearly required if we really hope to achieve transformational change in this space.
In organisations that are risk averse, admitting failure can be challenging. Organisations have a responsibility to allow for and provide a safe space for officers to talk through untoward outcomes, mistakes and perceived failures, in order to move forward and improve outcomes for victims and survivors of RASSO.
We are cognisant of the fact that officers are overworked, demand is high, and time is limited for reflective processes. However, the gains associated with building this into an investigation process are key to investigative effectiveness, officer competence and confidence, access to justice, and organisational health.

A powerful tool

Our research has found clear links between the wellbeing of personnel involved in RASSO investigations and their levels of professional competence, which highlights the critical roles that both formal and informal learning play in creating these.

Critical questions focused on case and victim needs, learning gaps, officers’ own wellbeing, victim/survivor needs and how these factors interact with organisational and wider CJS factors are worthy of ongoing contemplation and reflection in order to iteratively understand and adjust systems, cultures and approaches from a more whole systems perspective.

There was a desire for more time to reflect on decisions made and increase learning from the officers; therefore we suggest that embedding reflective practice more centrally in both investigative and learning practice is a powerful tool to achieve this aim.

Policing already employs forms of reflective practice in certain disciplines – for example, firearms operational debriefs – but the practice is not widespread or instinctive.

Avon and Somerset Police, led by their Chief Constable, Sarah Crew, have started this journey by implementing a new investigative strategy developed by our colleagues in Bluestone, Dr Kari Davies and Professor Miranda Horwath.

This strategy features reflective practice at the centre. We believe that this process will link to ‘on the job’ professional development, and offers further learning across teams and the wider organisation in the longer term.

Ultimately, in this context the police are learning to ask new and different questions and to grapple with the challenges of how to be better at delivering outcomes for victims and survivors of RASSO.

Facing the future: Police learning in the metaverse

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by Simon Hull, Lecturer in Work Based Learning at The Open University

There’s always a lot of hype surrounding new technology, how it will work and evolve and often accompanied by claims as to how it will improve our lives. But one vision of our digital future has received increasing exposure in the popular press in recent times that doesn’t yet appear to be fading away: the metaverse.

I’m intrigued by the metaverse. I’ve long since had an interest with virtual reality (VR) and its application to learning in work-based settings, not least operational policing. Indeed, The Open University has made great strides into teaching with VR through the Open Justice court room application, in which learners can explore a court building and learn about how it functions. But the metaverse takes VR several steps further, potentially opening up new avenues for immersive police education and training.

Whilst many people may be new to the term, the metaverse is not a new concept. The idea was first introduced by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 sci-fi novel called Snow Crash. Stephenson envisaged a digital 3D world called the Metaverse that runs parallel to our own and where its real-life users have avatars that carry out their day-to-day lives in virtual reality. More recently, Ernest Cline’s novel (and subsequent Steven Spielberg movie) Ready Player One depicted a type of metaverse in which society worked, studied and played. The term then gained publicity in 2021 when Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the company was being renamed Meta and would focus upon building ‘3D spaces in the metaverse will let you socialize, learn, collaborate and play’ (Meta, no date).

Academic discussion around the implications for using the metaverse in education is not a new concept (Tlili et al., 2022) and there have been many attempts to define what the metaverse is. Mystakidis (2022, pp. 486) defines it as ‘the post-reality universe, a perpetual and persistent multiuser environment merging physical reality with digital virtuality. It is based on the convergence of technologies that enable multisensory interactions with virtual environments, digital objects and people such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)’.

This is quite a mouthful, but many people will be drawn to the idea of existing in a shared virtual world where they can live and work together, building communities that thrive and challenge us just as any other does.

As Mystakidis suggests, the metaverse isn’t really one technology. In 2006, a research body called the Acceleration Studies Foundation (ASF), set out a roadmap in which 4 types of metaverse were conceived, combining real life and virtual reality.

• Augmented Reality can be seen in games such as Pokemon Go and head-up displays (HUD) found in some cars

• Lifelogging, where people capture and share aspects of their daily life through technology is ubiquitous via applications such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and also through wearable technology like the Apple Watch

• Mirror Worlds such as Google Maps and Google Earth reflect the real world but add in additional layers of information

• Virtual Reality can be seen in cases including Roblox and Minecraft (Kye et al, 2021).

Howell (2022) links these four concepts to how the metaverse could be used in education, picking out VR as being a crucial aspect in the application of the metaverse in educational settings and it’s VR that many people picture when they think of the metaverse.

It’s also with VR that my own intrigue around how the metaverse could be utilised in police learning is tweaked. VR already allows people to train in unfamiliar environments, becoming proficient in using tools and dealing with situations that may be dangerous, complicated or costly in real-life (think surgeons performing a life-saving operation or firefighters searching a blazing building). The metaverse takes this concept and allows multiple users to exist and collaborate in the same VR world.

I wonder, could this approach be applied to policing?

Communication is a key aspect of policing, not least amongst internal staff. By training together in the metaverse, greater understanding could be achieved and collaborative methods explored, accelerating learning opportunities and providing rich educational environments. For example, rather than training individuals to secure and investigate a crime scene, real-world mimicking simulations could be created in which response officers attend, talk to victims and witnesses, integrate and work with colleagues from specialist units and brief supervisors of their actions. They can also build knowledge as well as skills, learning about the forensic qualities of different materials and objects as they encounter them. Team de-briefings can be held and the scenario could be carried through the full investigation cycle, ending up presenting evidence in court.

Other potential uses could include where police officers and staff  practice conversations that they may undertake in the workplace that are relatively infrequent but that have very high-stakes when they do, such as delivering a death message, talking to a victim of domestic abuse or conducting a disclosure briefing to a  defence solicitor in a custody suite. Learners could learn about psychology and criminology as they walk through crime case studies. Metaverse technology will give a safe space to acquire knowledge, practice skills and discuss the outcomes with colleagues, delivered efficiently without the need for lengthy abstractions from duties.

Of course, there are significant challenges attached to the development of the metaverse and its application to education. Data security, regulation (who will police the metaverse? That’s another question), inequality in access to educational opportunities, and costs (headsets and software development are expensive) (Davis, 2022) are all relevant and could lead to a less than enthusiastic take-up by the public services.

The effect on learners’ mental health through being detached from the real world should not be overlooked. In the metaverse, people can present themselves as they wish to be seen, rather than how they actually are, and lines between the virtual and real worlds may become blurred (Kye et al, 2021). Protecting the welfare of learners will therefore become increasingly valid as opportunities to exist in the metaverse increase.

So, is the metaverse a fad or is it really the next big thing in online technology? Meta are by no means the only company to be investing in this brave new world. Gaming company Roblox already has a significant foothold in the metaverse and Microsoft and Fortnite, amongst others, are developing the technology. The metaverse has the potential to impact upon all of our lives; whether it does so in police learning, virtually or in reality, remains to be seen.

References

Davis, L (2022). How the Metaverse Is Shaping the Future of Education. Available at: https://metapress.com/how-the-metaverse-is-shaping-the-future-of-education/. (Accessed: 6 May 2022).

Howell, J. (2022) Metaverse For Education – How Will The Metaverse Change Education?. Available at: https://101blockchains.com/metaverse-for-education/ (Accessed: 6 May 2022).

Bokyung, K., Nara, H., Eunji, E., Yeonjeong, P. and Soyoung, J. (2021). ‘Educational applications of metaverse: possibilities and limitations’, Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions. 18(32). Available at: doi:10.3352/jeehp.2021.18.32 (Accessed: 8 July 2022).

Meta (no date) Connection is evolving and so are we. Available at: https://about.facebook.com/meta/ (Accessed: 6 May 2022).

Mystakidis, S. (2022). ‘Metaverse’ Encyclopedia 2(1), pp. 486-497. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia2010031 (Accessed: 8 July 2022).

Tlili, A., Huang, R., Boulus, S., Liu, D., Zhao, J, Hosny Saleh Metwally, A., Wang, H., Denden, M., Bozkurt, A., Lee, L-H.,  Beyoglu, D., Altinay, F., Sharma, R.C., Altinay, Z., Li, Z., Liu, J., Ahmad, F., Hu, Y., Salha, S., Abed, M., & Burgos, D. (2022). ‘Is Metaverse in education a blessing or a curse: a combined content and bibliometric analysis’, Smart Learning Environments 9 (24). Available at: Is Metaverse in education a blessing or a curse: a combined content and bibliometric analysis | Smart Learning Environments | Full Text (springeropen.com) (Accessed 25 July 2022).