Education or indoctrination? An exploration of the resistance towards making policing a degree-level profession

Abstract

Following a governmental U-turn on the requirement for new police officers to have degrees, this article examines what happened within just 7 years to cause this; specifically from the perspective of chief constables. This is contextualised through social learning and followership, and examining best practice in police leadership. It concludes that with unambiguous buy-in of ideas - such as the requirement for professionalisation through education - officers accept them; but that in this example that was not the case. It demonstrates that where chief constables supported the entry routes, satisfaction rates were higher; but chiefs who obstructed their delivery ensured its failure.