Entering Their 'S.P.A.C.E.': Reflections on the Experience, Politics and Practice of Working With and Training the Police for the Scottish Police and Citizen Engagement (S.P.A.C.E.) Trial

• In Event: Police Education and Training

Abstract

This paper reflects on the authors' experience of working with the police during the design, implementation and evaluation of the Scottish Police and Citizen Engagement (S.P.A.C.E) Trial. The trial was conducted within the context of probationer training at the national Scottish Police College, using a quasi-experimental design, whereby a designated treatment group received additional training inputs from academic 'outsiders' whilst the control group received 'business as usual'. The project sought to establish whether specifically designed, targeted and delivered training in procedural justice could improve police probationers' perceptions of, and attitudes and behaviours towards citizens. The paper discusses the politics involved when academics enter, and alter, the 'training space' of the police in the context of initial probationer training, and the resulting tensions, contradictions, synergies and opportunities. Among other things it will reflect upon traditional 'researching with, on and for the police' paradigms; working with an existing training team with its own internal dynamics and politics; and contributing to a training programme that has great practical, symbolic and emotional significance for many of those involved.

Authors

• Annette Robertson, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland

• Lesley McMillan, Glasgow Caledonian University