Initial police training and the development of police occupational culture

Abstract

The study of police occupational culture has revealed a wealth of hitherto unknown and unseen aspects of the working life of police officers. In the social science literature this culture is often linked to many of the problems evident in police organisations. This chapter explores some of the issues from this literature related to police culture. The authors argue that many of the factors and fundamental questions concerning police culture can perhaps best be explored by examining the initial training environment where Student Officers are first exposed to the various police sub-cultures. The chapter draws on research recently conducted by the first author to illustrate the issues. This reveals a complex picture where multiple cultures exist and where examples of practice and behaviour that is both progressive and problematic are found. Some specific recommendations are made with regard to changes that might be considered for future iterations of initial police training by the force in question and the service as a whole. These changes may go some way to ameliorating some of the negative aspects of police occupational culture.