Call for Forces to Participate in New Research

I am a PhD student at the University of Warwick conducting research under the supervision of Dr Kirsty Lee and Professor Kim Wade on individual differences in police attitudes on violence and decision making. Prior to my postgraduate studies, I joined West Mercia Police as a cadet in 2015 and have since completed research projects during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies and various work placements, with my most recent placement in Victim Support leading to my nomination for the Lord Ferrers Award in 2019. The objective of my PhD research is to examine the extent to which individual factors, such as officer and suspect demographic’s, behaviour, personality traits, and values, best predict attitudes about violence (e.g., rape and sexual assault/violence against women, racial discrimination, violent ideation) and decision making (i.e., use of force acceptability and reporting). This will help increase our understanding on the factors driving officer’s attitudes and decision making, which can be used to assist UK police when exploring avenues for improvement in police practice and officer wellbeing by identifying the relevance of known risk factors for violent ideation. Ultimately, the long-term aim of this research is to provide evidence-based solutions for UK police departments on ways the serve their community this includes developing screening and recruitment procedures and officer training, increasing officer job performance, mental wellbeing and overall public trust and engagement towards police. The research will be an online survey and will take approximately 20-25 minutes to complete. We are aiming to obtain a sample of 551 officers and are looking to recruit as many officer’s/forces as possible from across England and Wales. We have received Chief Officer approval from West Mercia and the research is under review at West Midlands and Warwickshire Police. If this research is something you would be interested in taking part in, advertising, or know of any other police forces/contacts who may be interested in take part, please contact the researcher (Rebecca.plimmer@warwick.ac.uk).

Many thanks for your consideration and support.

Best wishes,

Rebecca