Reflexivity and Criminal Justice

Is there ‘discretionary space’ in rank-based police constabularies for graduate constables to think critically and make autonomous decisions?

“…This result suggests that having a degree does not provide officers with enhanced capacity or motivation to persevere in making autonomous decisions in the current policing environment. This finding reflects a position held by (Wood and Williams, 2017) that whether they have a degree or not appears to make little difference to the performance or employment of currently serving officers. This is perhaps not surprising as it is well established in the literature that police culture and the hierarchical structure of policing coalesce to devalue and undermine the alleged benefits of a university education (Paterson, 2011;Cox and Kirby, 2018;Goode and Lumsden, 2018).…”

“…While neither of these approaches neglect the importance of legislation or police policy, or indeed the rank structure. They both require a working environment that allows appropriate levels of dissent, meaningful reflections and a willingness to listen and change (Christopher, 2015;Wood and Williams, 2017;Wood, 2020).…”

“…Any deviation from the policy must be explained and justified. This approach is argued to be driven by risk aversion and has been applied to a range of situations, including: stop search procedures, positive arrest policy in domestic violence cases and the use of body worn video cameras (Diemer et al, 2017;Wood and Williams, 2017;Rowe, Pearson and Turner, 2018;Black and Lumsden, 2020). Such a policy driven approach not only limits discretion but is more in keeping with the organisational professionalism as described by Evetts.…”