1. The Police Knowledge Fund Project
Liverpool John Moores University; Merseyside Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside
American Society of Criminology Conference,
New Orleans, November 2016

2. College of Policing and HEFCE - The Police Knowledge Fund
Build sustained capacity amongst police officers and staff to understand, critique and use research
Embed or accelerate understanding of crime and policing issues, and evidence based problem solving approaches
Demonstrate innovation in building the research evidence base and applying it through knowledge exchange and translation across all levels of policing
Inspired by the conviction that the more officers know about research, the more they engage with it, the more likely they are to use and embed research into their professional practice

3. The LJMU Police Knowledge Fund Project
Embedding Evidence Based practice in Public Protection and Crime Prevention: A multi-disciplinary partnership
A clear twin-track focus on teaching and research
The Communities of Practice Model lies at the heart of the project;
Thematic focus on priority areas
Blended Project Team of Advanced practitioners and Research fellows
Integration of practitioner inputs
Inter-disciplinary nature of the LJMU research inputs
Knowledge Exchange Events
Proactive stakeholder engagement informs project outcomes
Together the works of the CoPs and the engagement with the Steering Group will drive research ventures

4. The LJMU Police Knowledge Fund Project
From August 2015 through to March 2017 LJMU are working in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside (OPCC) and Merseyside Police. The programme focuses on the overarching OPCC priority Supporting Victims, Protecting Vulnerable People and Maintaining Public Safety, drilling down into the following priorities:

5. PG Cert Advanced Policing Studies
Ultimately the key project deliverable is to deliver training to 72 police officers
Two clear ambitions;
to develop the individual research skills set of students on the course through three modules coherently assembled to develop participant’s ability to identify, critically engage with, and reflect upon evidence-informed policing and criminal justice policy and practice
A second ambition of the programme - realised through the work-based research module - is to support students in constructing their own practice-related research projects
…the programme’s ambition is to develop individual student’s profiles and to seek to generate manifest practice developments to stimulate others

6. PG Cert Advanced Policing Studies – Programme Structure
Module Code
Module Title
Credits
7200PS
Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice 20
7201PS
Methods for Work-Based Research
7202PS
Work-Based Research Project
Content and learning ambitions relevant to the sector
Develop the core skills and competencies of Level 7 Study
Scholarship informs curriculum delivery
Use of virtual learning environment to support programme

7. PG Cert Advanced Policing Studies – Programme Structure
Module
Skills Development
Contribution to Policing Knowledge
7000PS
Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice
Critical Reflection
Literature review
7001PS
Methods for Work-Based Research
SPSS Report
Research Proposal
7002PS
Work-Based Research Project
Presentation
Report

8. Reflections on Developments in Evidence-informed Policy and Practice
There is a cultural shift taking place in the development of policing policy and practice with a renewed emphasis on ‘What Works’
Following on from this is the idea of triangulation and collaboration on cross-cutting theme, raising questions about institutional independence and sovereignty
The changing landscape of policy as whilst crime levels are falling, the police workload hasn’t
Are the policing skills required different amidst the renewed emphasis on vulnerability
Can we re-imagine occupational culture and the creation of new working identities
The College promote the 4 e’s of Evidence (professional who understand); Efficiency (effective co-operation between partners); Equity (the role of procedural justice); and Empathy (heightened inter-personal skills)
The realisation that there are a plethora of stakeholders and voices circulating around policing and of the need for officers to partake in this conversation

9. Practical challenges to realising these ambitions
Manifest challenges to a fully-fledged and coherent culture of evidence-informed practice
The quality and depth of the research evidence available
The UK far behind US counterparts in generating resources of evidence
The time and space to develop knowledge and understanding
On-going professional service pressures mitigating against opportunities to reflect
The organisational need to respond to new emergent challenges as continually compromising the ability to plan and resource service provision
The police service increasingly being left to fill gaps left by the fracturing and devolving of a range of social service functions
The development of highly localised and increasingly diverse practices
PCC led initiatives (re)shaping models of practice and delivery

10. Broader challenges to realising these ambitions
Broader challenges to work through in arriving at a more complete operation of evidence-based policing practice
The intuitively good and positive assessment of multi-agency working needs greater scrutiny
The need for a much more developed conversation about the capacity and utility of multi- agency, partnership and integrated working
The need to anticipate occupational cultural changes and future proof service delivery
A challenge is to consider the consequences of creating aspirational working cultures and champions of evidence based work
The fundamental challenge is to measure causation and to find the right mechanisms for capturing evidence
A crucial element of that is the role and voice of officers in contributing to research agendas

11. The Key learning to take forward
In generating evidence it is important not to underestimate the importance of generating clear practice goals and objectives
Interventions and projects need clear anticipated/predicted outcomes to be able to judge their impact
The production, form, and availability of research-informed knowledge is crucial
How information feeds into the practice setting and how it is packaged is almost as crucial as measures designed to judge its credibility
The need for continued and informed debate and dialogue about what forms evidence can take and the need to continually reflect upon and challenge the evidence-base
A role for researchers, police personnel and other stakeholders to think broadly about the production and implementation of evidence-informed practice