Please note that this session has been cancelled.

The Baroness Casey Review of 2023 highlighted a legitimacy crisis confronting police forces, not just in London but in the UK and internationally (Casey, 2023[1]). The recently published Crime Survey of England & Wales also showed significant declines in key measures of public perceptions of the police. Understanding and addressing the factors governing public perceptions of the legitimacy of policing is therefore a key priority for police forces locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally across the coming year.

Reflecting this, in June 2023 the Chief Scientific Advisor to the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), the Chair of the NPCC and the Government Office of science commissioned a programme of work to begin to understand how to positively address the factors driving public perceptions of policing. An academic panel established to advise the NPCC legitimacy working group determined that contemporary threats to police legitimacy arise from a complex array of factors linked to incidents involving excessive police use of force, bias against ethnic minorities, ineffectiveness and the inappropriate handling of victims, active police involvement in sexual violence and controversies arising from the policing of public assemblies (GO Science, 2023).

To assist in meeting the challenges within these operational areas the Keele University Academic Police Collaboration (KPAC) is providing a series of two day Continuing Professional Development courses. Each is designed to enhance knowledge of the latest theory, research and evidence led policing approaches that are developing in operational domains that regularly pose risks of critical incidents. The aim of each course will be to help participants address the question of how policing can be conducted in ways that enhance public perceptions of the effectiveness, proportionality, and legitimacies of police actions. Each CPD can be taken separately or in combination without assessment or potentially with assessment as part of a portfolio of modules that can lead to a Professional Doctorate in Evidence Based Policing[2].

[1] See Baroness Casey Review Final Report here
[2] Please note these courses are currently under development. We plan to begin making them available in late 2023.

---

Theory, evidence, & practice in the management of crowds.

1 and 2 November 2023

It is the case that the perceived and actual mismanagement of crowd events has a profound and long-lasting impact on police legitimacy and accusations about the mishandling of crowd events continually confront police forces internationally. It is therefore imperative that police forces draw upon the latest scientific theory and evidence to ensure their crowd management strategies and operational practices are evidence led and aligned with international best practices. This first CPD is a two-day course that will focus on the science of crowd psychology and its implications for policing a range of different types of crowd events including football, demonstrations, and mass emergencies.

The course is aimed at those who are currently, or planning to become, police public order strategic and operational commanders at Gold, Silver, and Bronze level, as well as tactical advisors, trainers, DFOs, and PLTs but it will be relevant to anyone involved with or interested in the evidence-based policing and social psychology of crowds.

It will provide updates on the latest research in crowd psychology, policy updates as well as exploring the latest evidence led UK and international innovations in operational best practices. There will be inputs on analysis of the 2011 riots, the policing of the Sarah Everard Vigil during the Covid-19 pandemic, on public behaviour during the 2015 marauding knife attack at Leytonstone underground station, on the policing of protests in the US as well as the latest developments on the ENABLE project and the policing of football. We have commitments from the College of Policing and United Kingdom Football Policing Unit who will provide updates on statutory guidance as well as inputs from Devon & Cornwall Police on the policing of G7, from the University of Edinburgh on the policing of G20, and from the University of Oxford on the nature of right-wing protest and counter protest in and beyond the UK. A highlight will be a keynote presentation from the Columbus Division of Police who will provide an unput on their pioneering work in the USA developing science led approaches to crowd management following the BLM riots of 2020.

Attendance will enable participants to deepen and broaden their knowledge of crowd psychology and, for police officers, to strengthen capacity to understand how to utilise this knowledge to develop efficiencies, proportionality, and effectiveness in the strategic and tactical aspects of their crowd policing operations. The CPD will be delivered face to face, facilitated by Professor Clifford Stott MBE and enabled through the University of Keele Policing Research Centre KPAC. The cost will be £375 per person which includes registration, lunches, evening dinner and refreshments.

---

All the events are subject to change, will be delivered face to face, facilitated by Professor Clifford Stott MBE and enabled through KPAC. The cost of a single event will be £375 per person which includes registration, lunches, evening dinner and refreshments. Discounts are available for multiple attendance or if students are registered on Keele University’s Professional Doctorate in Evidence Based Policing. Accommodation is available at the Marriot Hotel on the University campus but will need to be booked independently. To register or for further enquiries please contact KPAC’s Centre Manager Debbie Tallent d.j.tallent@keele.ac.uk.

---