The Police Officer as Social Scientist — Some Reflections

Abstract

Against a background of increasing central government control of policing in the UK, there has never been a greater need for insightful research into the modern police service. While acknowledging that substantial and meaningful police research has been undertaken in recent decades – this paper argues that there is a case for a more formal introduction of social sciences and methods into the police organisation. Part of such a move would be engaging police officers in regular in-house research, whether in partnership with academia or not. This would lead the organisation to question regularly why they do things and, more importantly, why it is they are being asked to do things. This paper offers some reflections on police research, the role of the researcher and participant observation.