On police and university collaborations: a problem-oriented policing case study

Abstract

This paper describes the origins, development and experience of an extended collaborative relationship between the UCL Jill Dando Institute (JDI) of Security and Crime Science at University College London and Warwickshire Police and Warwickshire County Council. This is discussed in the context of a practitioner-led problem-oriented policing project to reduce bag theft from British supermarkets. The case study highlights many of the ways in which universities and police and partnership agencies can work fruitfully with one another. Our hope is that the case study might yield insights into potential determinants of effective academic–practitioner collaborations.

Keywords:

• bag theft
• causal mechanisms
• practitioner–researcher collaboration
• problem-oriented policing

Acknowledgements

The research described in this paper was largely funded by Government Office West Midlands. Thanks go to Tony Archer, Doug Chipperfield, Gloria Laycock and Steve Storey for their involvement in the project. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Notes

1. Volumes 1 and 2 were not available online at the time of analysis.

2. We acknowledge that practitioner involvement in the publication process is an imperfect measure of researcher-practitioner collaborations; authorship of a published manuscript might not equate with involvement in a particular project. The theme of certain manuscripts might also preclude practitioner involvement. Moreover, in certain cases the distinction between researcher and practitioner is blurred; individuals might hold both practitioner and academic positions but only report one. Nor do publications hold equal weight for researcher and practitioner communities. Academic sustenance and furtherance demands publication in scientific journals; the mantra of ‘publish or perish’ looms large. The incentives to publish for practitioners are less obvious. Clearly we would therefore expect more academic than practitioner authors.

3. The affiliation of the author(s) could not be discerned in five articles.

4. At the time the course was held, England comprised eight regional Government Offices responsible for coordinating activity between local authorities and also between local and central government. As of March 2011, all regional government offices in England were disbanded and their functions transferred to relevant Government departments.

5. Known as shopping carts in North America.