ANALYSIS: In this fifth and final article in a month-long series celebrating International Women’s Day, Dr Emma Williams, Dr Linda Maguire, Dr Arun Sondhi and Richard Harding of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning share some important insights about the ground-breaking Operation Soteria Bluestone project currently underway to transform the police response to Rape and Serious Sexual Offences.

FEATURE: As the discussion continues around the role of education and degrees within policing in the UK, the policing education qualifications framework (PEQF) has remained contentious; Dr Emma Williams and Jennifer Norman explore the current situation regarding the PEQF and police qualifications, and where the debate about professionalisation in policing goes from here.

ANALYSIS: In the last in our series on continuing professional development (CPD) in policing, the team at the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning examine some of the key topics in light of the recent policing reviews.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in our series of articles on continuing professional development in policing, Dr Emma Williams of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research explores the importance of CPD in wellbeing, particularly in relation to equipping officers with the skills, knowledge and learning required to investigate complex rape cases and sexual offences more effectively.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in our series of articles on continuing professional development in policing, Dr Emma Williams of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning and Dr Tom Cockcroft of Leeds Beckett University examine the vital role that tutor constables play in supporting new recruits, and what more the service should do to provide structure and purpose for police tutoring programmes.

FEATURES: This week will see the launch of a new series of fortnightly articles on continuing professional development (CPD) in policing, written specifically for the Policing Insight audience by the team at the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL); ahead of the first article, Dr Emma Williams, the CPRL’s Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships, explains the aim of the series and introduces the team behind it.

OPINION : Project Bluestone involves Avon and Somerset working with leading academics to assess and address the force's issues around rape investigations; Dr Emma Williams of the Open University, one of the academics involved with Bluestone, assesses the ongoing project and its potential.

FEATURE: Tutor constables play an increasingly crucial role in socialising and mentoring new recruits, yet very little research has been undertaken on how the role is approached and delivered by forces and individual officers; Dr Emma Williams of the Open University and Dr Tom Cockcroft of Leeds Beckett University highlight the opportunities and challenges of the tutor constable programme, and explore how a new study could inform practice around tutoring for years to come.

OPINION: The balance between professional judgement in policing and following an ethical framework is a delicate one. However, Dr Emma Williams argues that too much focus on consistent professional standards can not only stifle discretion, but can lead to moral distress when officers find that guidance challenges their own moral judgements.

OPINION: Tackling the county lines drug trade and protecting vulnerable youngsters exploited by dealers is a challenge for many UK forces, and was the key focus for the @WeCops Twitter chat at the end of November; in this article @WeCops Dr Emma Williams brings together the main points from the debate.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: This year Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) celebrates 25 years of delivering educational courses in policing. CCCU has been instrumental in the national conversation about shaping the higher education offer within policing and as a result, we have adapted our programmes to fit the changing context of policing over time.

OPINION: Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University provides her review of the #WeCops Twitter debate last week, examining UK police's response to the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.

ANALYSIS : The way that policing is presented to the public affects public understanding and confidence. Yet documentaries such as The Met often give a very limited and stereotypical account of police work. Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University argues that police and the documentaries that follow them need to focus more on innovative programmes addressing problems at their origin.

ANALYSIS: With the announcement of 20,000 new police officers, the new PEQF entry routes are back in the news. However, Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University warns that organisational issues bring risks - to forces, to officers, and to the PEQF itself.

ANALYSIS: With Lincolnshire Police beginning a Judicial Review against the College of Policing, the controversy over the new police entry routes, the PEQF, shows no sign of abating. Dr Emma Williams and Jack Chapman (research assistant) of Canterbury Christ Church University examine the operational readiness of forces for the new qualification requirements.

Advertisement feature: This years’ Canterbury Centre for Police Research annual conference is about the professionalisation agenda and the challenges to achieving its’ aims in the current climate of austerity and rising demand.

ANALYSIS: What is expertise and who is really an expert? Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University explores the role - and value - of expertise in policing, and its complexities.

OPINION: The idea of unconscious bias has increasing traction in policing, but what if we're looking in the wrong places? Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University discusses different types of diversity and how internal bias could be affecting both leadership in the police and how certain roles are valued.

OPINION: In the wake of the ongoing debate over new police entry routes and the Police Educational Qualification Framework, Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University argues that knowledge in policing needs to be recognised as reflexive, and police education as a two-way process.

ANALYSIS: Direct Entry is highly contentious among serving officers. Emma Williams and Jennifer Norman of Canterbury Christ Church University and Dr Fran Boag-Munroe of the Police Federation of England and Wales explore the results of the PFEW’s Annual Pay and Morale Survey 2017 to explain why that is - and warn that DE could pose real risks to the professionalisation agenda.

OPINION: Cost-saving measures to be introduced next year will reduce the number of households that the Crime Survey England and Wales can interview. Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University and Dr Helen Innes of Cardiff University explain the implications.

OPINION: What kind of research best informs police practice? It depends on the question. Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University and serving officer Gareth Stubbs explore the pedigree of academic research into the police and the political undercurrents that drive it today.

OPINION: Last week the second annual Canterbury Police Research Centre conference took place, with the title: ‘Learning from Evidence: Mission impossible?’ Emma Williams of CCCU explores the themes that emerged and the challenges posed by speakers and practitioners.

OPINION: In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks on the UK, Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University says thank you to those officers who warned the public that police numbers were too low, and who are now working full stretch to protect us.