Abstract
National politicians and senior Police leaders control the power granted to a Police Officer by collectively increasing legislative and policy rules. Meanwhile, academics and external statutory and non-statutory stakeholders observe the Police Officer’s stubborn resistance to change, pointing to the predominance of police culture. This exploratory study explains how all stakeholders hold a flawed understanding of how a Police Officer decides.Using semi-structured interviews and Qualitative Analysis methods, the study advances a unique insight into the use of the Police Officer’s power provided by their oath of office. Drawing on data from 21 Police Personnel and 11 statutory and non-statutory respondents, this study shows a Police Officer’s preference for simple cultural alternatives to the rules-based National Police Decision Model when under pressure. Equally, the study successfully finds, defines and field evaluates a theoretical alternative called P-OODA which describes a Police Officer’s innate activity, controlled by a Strategic Coordinator.
The Strategic Coordinator negates impulsive or unwarranted personal and police cultural biases when under pressure. It uses policing principles to make a judgement call, condensed into five essential actions, each representative of a Police Officer’s oath of office. The actions enable the necessity of the political and senior police leadership ambitions to deliver the mandated policing plan. And, the Strategic Coordinators conscious application and consistent use will reassure political and senior police leaders, and key stakeholders, they control policing’s investigative activities.
| Date of Award | 13 Feb 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Victoria Wang (Supervisor), Becky Milne (Supervisor) & Christopher Gray Lewis (Supervisor) |