Creating the ‘thinking police officer’: Exploring Motivations and Professional Impact of Part-time Higher Education

This article makes a contribution to contemporary debates of police education and training by reporting the findings of a small-scale qualitative study that examined the impact of part-time higher education on a cohort of police officers in the north of England. Differentiating between police training and higher education study, the article explore the views of officers who have voluntarily completed a social science informed Policing Studies programme in their own time, funded by a unique collaboration between their local constabulary, the Higher Education Funding Council England, and the host university. The article discusses the motivations of officers to engage with such a programme; identifies what officers liked about the programme of study; and explores the perceived impact of the programme on their professional police practice.