No abstract

Since 2010, the number of officers in the Police Service of England and Wales (PSEW) has fallen by 12% (Home Office, 2015). Although there has been much public debate over the impact of these reductions (Barrett, 2014; Blanchard, 2014; May, 2015; Shaw, 2015; White, 2015), such arguments have mostly lacked robust supporting evidence. This study aims to help inform future debate by providing qualitative evidence via semi-structured focus groups with serving police officers. Semi-inductive thematic analysis revealed a dynamic set of elements, perceived by officers as both affecting and being affected by the PSEW’s demand and capacity balance.

No abstract

The Peelian principle that ‘the police are the public, and the public are the police’ remains a central tenet of the ‘policing by consent’ model of policing. However, the police in England and Wales are currently not gender-representative, most notably at the highest ranks. Using a sample of 21,490 officers in England and Wales between the ranks of Constable and Chief Inspector we addressed two questions to help better understand female officers’ career progression: the extent to which female officers saw hierarchical rank progression, first as realistic and second as desirable. Compared with male officers, and controlling for covariates, female constables were less likely to expect or desire progression to higher ranks, in particular Superintending and Chief Officer ranks. Gender differences in both expectation and aspiration regarding hierarchical rank progression were more limited amongst supervisory ranks. The implications of these findings for achieving a gender-representative police service are discussed.

No abstract