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Articles by: Clifford Stott

Two police officers in bright yellow and black uniforms walk together on a city street, emphasizing their presence and role in community safety and law enforcement.

The Leadership Commission and the future of police reform

The Police Leadership Commission

14th July 2026

Prof Clifford Stott, the Centre for Policing Research and Learning

OPINION: While public debate around the recent Police Leadership Commission report focuses on proposals such as the National Academy of Police Leadership and new promotion pathways, The Open University’s Professor Clifford Stott, ACC Nick Caveney, Dr Jennifer Norman, and Dr Iain Raphael, argue that the report’s key contribution is on the issue of whether policing has the institutional capability to deliver and sustain the scale of change envisaged by both the Commission and the wider reform programme.

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Clifford Stott
Academic Director, Centre for Policing Research & Learning

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Clifford Stott MBE is Professor of Policing Research and Academic Director of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) at The Open University. An internationally recognised social psychologist, Clifford’s work has transformed understanding of crowd behaviour, public order policing, and the dynamics of protest and conflict. As a co-developer of the Social Identity Approach to crowd behaviour, his research has provided a scientific foundation for dialogue-based and legitimacy-focused approaches to public order policing and has shaped policy and practice across the UK, Europe and North America. He has advised police forces, governments and international organisations for more than twenty-five years, including serving as co-chair of the Security and Policing subgroup of SAGE during the Covid-19 pandemic. He is Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Police Science Council and continues to play a leading role in shaping national and international policing policy, research and practice.