Knowledge into practice: Exploring the effectiveness of the police tutor model in Scotland

• In Event: POLWG Panel 4: Exploring Police Education in Europe: Educational reform, professionalisation, mentoring and military-style training

Abstract

Police education and how to translate evidence into practice has been a topic of much debate in the UK and beyond. Scholars debate the ways in which higher education might transform police forces’ use and application of knowledge, others discuss the potential of different leadership development programmes to support policing practice. However, the time between the initial classroom-based learning phase of a new recruit police officer and translating this learning into practice within their local police force, has received comparably little attention to date. Recent studies in the UK and elsewhere have tried to address this gap. This paper will present data from a recent evaluation of the tutor constable model in Scotland. The findings from this mixed-methods study suggest that there is little consistency in the delivery of the tutor constable model across the country and several concerns about the sustainability and effectiveness of these model(s). Based on this, the paper will report on stakeholder events which focused on the development of shared aims and objectives when trying to address these concerns, with inputs from practitioners and academics in other European countries. The paper concludes that a shift in focus for this initial learning phase is required, where new recruit officers are first and foremost seen as students who have the time and space to learn, rather than a resource for frontline policing. Recommendations for policy and practice will be reflected upon.

Author

• Larissa Engelmann, University of Leeds