Can Training Improve Stop and Search Practice? Evaluating a Training Pilot RCT in England and Wales

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

This panel will examine findings from the evaluation of a national training pilot for police in England and Wales. The pilot was intended to change the way police officers use their ‘stop and search’ powers, which are analogous to ‘stop, question and frisk’ powers in the US. These powers allow police in England and Wales to detain and search citizens suspected of carrying an item related to criminal activity. Stop and search has come under increasing scrutiny in England and Wales due, inter alia, to its disproportionate use against minority communities, as well as its broader impacts on relationships between police and citizens.

To improve police practice, the College of Policing, working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, developed a training package to be delivered to randomly-selected officers in six of the 43 police forces in England and Wales. The pilot used a randomised control trial (RCT) methodology to measure the impact of the pilot, with an accompanying process evaluation involving interviews and systematic social observation (SSO) methods. The panel explores the pilot findings in the wider context of police-citizen encounters, behaviour change in policing and the organizational challenges of creating effective police training.

Sub Unit

• Area VIII: Policing

Individual Presentations

• An Overview of the Training Pilot - Daniel Packham, College of Policing; Paul Quinton, College of Policing; Banos Alexandrou, The Research Advisory Service; Chris Giacomantonio, RAND Europe; Joel Miller, Rutgers University; Alex Sutherland, RAND Europe

• Implementation Fidelity in a Loosely Coupled System: The Challenges of Maintaining Consistent ‘Problem Theory’ and ‘Programme Theory’ in a Multi-force Training Pilot - Chris Giacomantonio, RAND Europe; Yael Litmanovitz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Impact Evaluation Results from the Training Pilot - Joel Miller, Rutgers University; Banos Alexandrou, The Research Advisory Service

• Which Factors are Associated with Better Police-citizen Encounters? Findings from Systematic Social Observation of interactions with Suspects - Tal Jonathan-Zamir, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ben Bradford, University of Oxford

Chair

• Stephen D. Mastrofski, George Mason University