Police Recruit Training Programmes: A Systematic Map of Research Literature

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a systematic review of the existing research evidence on police recruit training. The systematic search produced a large number of studies, which are presented here in the form of a map of the landscape of police recruit training literature. Our search strategy included published and grey literature in databases and libraries, using electronic and hand searching. Search terms included variations of 'police recruit training'. Initial searches produced, nearly 20,000 studies, which were screened, shortlisted, coded and ultimately 109 studies met our inclusion criteria. Six broad themes and subthemes emerged from a thematic analyses of the 109 studies. The two most prolific themes focused on 'examining academic and/or field training' and 'examining part of a programme', each containing 36 studies. Most of the studies were based in the USA, (N=67). Grey literature such as dissertations, theses, and reports made up nearly half of all included studies (N=51) and published journal articles making up the bulk of the remaining studies (N=50). Quality assessment of the studies revealed a wide variation in the nature and quality of studies: 56 studies (50%) used a quantitative design, 36 studies (33%) adopted mixed methods, and 19 studies (17%) employed a qualitative approach. The 109 studies were double-blind quality appraised using recognised quality appraisal tools. Overall the strength of the evidence was fragile; only 13 studies (12%) were of a 'strong' quality, 55 studies (50%) were 'weak', and the rest (41, i.e. 38%) were of 'moderate' quality. The report concludes with recommendations for guiding future research in police recruit training.

Preparing Students With Disabilities and Police for Successful Interactions

“…Begin by explicitly stating the purpose of the training and providing the learning objectives (e.g., to gain an overview of all 13 disability categories, to understand the differences between mental health and disabilities; McGinley et al, 2019). Then training should be further individualized based on the needs of the agency to focus on specific disabilities (e.g., LD, EBD, and ASD).…”

Designing learning success and avoiding learning failure through learning analytics: the case of policing in England and Wales

“…Policing in England and Wales is currently undergoing radical transformation-as it moves from being an artisan trade to a graduate 'profession' (Holdaway, 2017;McGinley et al, 2019). Fueled by the introduction of the PEDF (College of Policing, 2020), police organizations are in the process of forming collaborative partnerships with HEIs to deliver the required degree level professional learning.…”

“…Until recently, police officers' training and education was delivered regionally by the 43 police forces in England and Wales. Known as the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP), this programme was at Level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and was delivered predominately in a classroom setting by local police trainers and field mentors (Bryant et al, 2013;McGinley et al, 2019). However, following a review of police leadership and training (Neyroud, 2011), a new professionalization agenda in policing was developed, leading to the establishment of a police professional body, the College of Policing, in 2012 (Holdaway, 2017).…”

“…To explore the potential of learning analytics for professional learning, we use the example in this article of policing in England and Wales. Some adverse experiences of standardized e-learning packages in recent decades have left police organizations cautious of online/blended learning (Campeau, 2019;Hadlington et al, 2018;Honess, 2020;McGinley et al, 2019), despite the strategic aims of the profession to be more digitally underpinned (National Police Chiefs Council, 2016). However, a new era of police education and higher education partnerships has emerged -one that has the potential to radically transform police digital learning capacity and capabilities.…”

Law Enforcement Officers: A Call for Training and Awareness of Disabilities

“…Because of the higher rates of victimization of PWD and because of the higher levels of fatalities in interactions between PWD and LEOs, disability advocates and researchers have called for justice and change for PWD in the criminal justice system (The Arc, n.d.;McCauley, 2017;Saleh et al, 2018), beginning with better training of LEOs (The Arc, n.d.;Diamond & Hogue, 2021;Eadens et al, 2016;Engelman et al, 2013;Modell & Mak, 2008;Oschwald et al, 2011) and school resource officers (Chan et al, 2019(Chan et al, , 2021. Traditionally, prospective LEOs receive extensive basic academy classroom training followed by field training supervised by a veteran officer (Belur et al, 2019;Dulin et al, 2020;McGinley et al, 2019). Following the initial classroom and field training, LEOs attend several mandatory trainings as well as optional in-service trainings (Diamond & Hogue, 2021).…”