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.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in our series of articles on continuing professional development (CPD) in policing, Dr Ahmed Kadry and Jo Lambert of the Open University’s Policing Organisation and Practice team explore the opportunities for expanding the Police Education Qualification Framework to include special constables, and the benefits this could bring – both for forces and for individual officers.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in our series of articles on continuing professional development (CPD), Dr Paul Walley, Director of Learning at the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning, looks at how combinations of learning options – including experiential learning cycles, and ‘flipping the classroom’ – can lead to ‘light bulb moments’ and more effective outcomes for policing CPD.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in this series on continuing professional development (CPD), Dr Nicky Miller and Professor Jean Hartley of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) explore the integration of explicit and tacit knowledge into learning, and how taking the opportunities to blend both approaches can help to bridge the gap between knowing and doing in UK policing.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in this series on continuing professional development (CPD), Dr Paul Walley and Associate Lecturer Laurie Knell of the Open University explore the benefits and opportunities of collaborative learning design between police and higher education, and how a co-creation approach has proved successful for the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in this series on continuous professional development (CPD), Dr Nicky Miller (Director of Knowledge into Practice), Dr Emma Williams (Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships) and Research Fellow Richard Harding of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning explore the importance of reflective practice, particularly in relation to investigations of rape and serious sexual offences.

FEATURE: The use of learning analytics to measure, collect and analyse data from police learners – with a view to optimising programmes and improving the development environment – could revolutionise policing learning, as Dr Matthew Jones and Prof Bart Rienties of the Open University explain in this latest in a series of articles on police CPD.

FEATURE: Policing leaders at all levels have a vital role to play in creating the right climate for successful CPD; in the latest in this series on CPD, Professor Jean Hartley (Academic Director) and Dr Emma Williams (Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships) of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning highlight the steps that leaders can take – and the benefits that can arise – from ensuring CPD is effectively embedded into officers’ careers.

ANALYSIS: Approaches and attitudes towards continuing professional development (CPD) vary markedly across sectors and among employers and employees – and as a result, so do outcomes; in the second in a series of articles on CPD, Dr Paul Walley, Director of Learning at the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning, highlights some of the key elements of a successful approach, including organisational and leadership support, and consistent standards.

FEATURE: Previous incarnations of online learning in policing left many underwhelmed and uninspired, with stories of officers struggling to absorb information or simply clicking through pages as fast as possible to complete a module; in the first of a new series of articles on continuing professional development, Dr Matthew Jones of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning sets out to dispel some long-held myths and explore the new world of blended learning.

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.