two - Academia from a practitioner’s perspective: a reflection on the changes in the relationship between academia, policing and government in a hate crime context

Summary

Introduction

When I joined the British police in 1984, academics were on the long list of our natural ‘opponents’ in life. One of my early introductions was to the informal list of individuals who existed to ‘undermine’ our principle objectives – to ‘let nice people sleep safely and to send bad people to prison’. The list was headed by lawyers who appeared twice – those who worked on criminal defence headed it, but those who prosecuted were also there. Academics came below journalists and probation officers. This was not, of course, part of any official training, which was functional, concentrating on the need to know the law and not touching on any of the ‘soft stuff ‘ like the needs of communities. As in most careers the real influence comes from experienced peers, the time-served officers who had ‘been there and done it’. Our relationship with academics through the 1980s was, from our perspective at least, confrontational, with the likes of Robert Reiner and Simon Holdaway seeking to understand how the police cultures had contributed to social unrest and miscarriages of justice. This was often seen from within as an attack rather than support. Beyond these established police observers there were many others who we felt were trying to prove that we were ‘Fascists’, ‘corrupt’ or, given the ongoing national miners’ strike, ‘Thatcher's henchmen’.

Nearly thirty years later, my role as a police officer has changed hugely and academics, like at least some of those on the list, are seen as key allies to the police. This chapter will outline my experiences and show how academics have become far more influential in policing, which is a very different career now from how it was in the 1980s. There has been a significant cultural shift in policing and the desire to position itself as a police ‘service’ rather than a police ‘force’ for me best describes the transition. With this shift comes an openness to active partnerships with many sectors and a transparency that has begun to welcome external examination.

Police officers’ core training has changed to reflect this transition, concentrating less on retention of laws and more on the needs of the individuals who require the services of the police.