The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked f... more The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.
The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked f... more The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.
The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked f... more The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.
For a number of years there has been a sustained acknowledgement of the worth of ‘transformationa... more For a number of years there has been a sustained acknowledgement of the worth of ‘transformational’ leadership as a catalyst for change within police organizations. Academics, policy makers, and senior officers alike have pronounced the benefits to be enjoyed from the implementation of such leadership models, not least in respect of promoting cultural change. However, this article will present a counter argument to suggest that the application of transformational leadership models to policing contexts is worthy of more robust critique than which, to date, it has been subjected to. In doing so, this article explores the concept of ‘transformational ’ leadership and its relevance to policing contexts. Additionally, the article will suggest that claims of success in effecting cultural change within police organizations are likely to rest on simplistic conceptions of police culture and its relationship to police behaviour.
Despite the wealth of literature focusing on police culture, there is little sense of an 'establi... more Despite the wealth of literature focusing on police culture, there is little sense of an 'established' position on how this concept relates to the issue of police leadership-either in the traditional sense of qualities associated with the senior ranks or of qualities associated with all ranks. In respect of the former, this is because, as Reiner (1992) noted, the growth in research surrounding policing mainly concentrated on explaining the values and behaviours of the lower ranks of the organisation. Indeed, whilst some literature touches upon the nature of this relationship between police culture and leadership (see, for example, Marks, 2007 on the relationship between police culture, leadership and unionism), or explores a particular aspect of it (see, for example, Cockcroft, 2014, on the relationship between police culture and transformational leadership), the relationship has not been more fully articulated. To date, therefore, there has been insufficient attention paid to the identification of a broad explanatory context to facilitate our understanding of this area.
Independent Commission on the Future of Policing in England and Wales, 2013
This chapter reflects upon the relationship between the higher education sector and police servic... more This chapter reflects upon the relationship between the higher education sector and police services in England and Wales over recent years and considers ways in which the emergence of the College of Policing presents new opportunities for furthering the academic status of the learning that occurs within police training contexts. The chapter draws upon the lessons gained from Canterbury Christ Church University's (CCCU) direct experiences of working with the police over the past 17 years in designing, developing and delivering bespoke academic programmes for serving police officers, initial police recruits and prospective police officers. Our starting point is an assumption that higher education (HE) has a positive role to play in helping to develop police training and we concentrate our attention on trying to explain why there is resistance to establishing academic levels of attainment for the learning that takes place within police training and education contexts. We present a number of recommendations regarding ways in which the College of Policing can help overcome such resistance in its efforts to professionalise and modernise policing. Importantly, we recognise the need for a period of transition; there are arguments to be won within all levels of policing and especially with the large number of officers who are, in our view, too often excluded from debates about the role HE can play within policing. We refer to this group of officers as the 'excluded middle', as will be explained below. We have adopted a ten year approach, akin to the approach taken within the Patten Report (1999), to allow for a gradual, but meaningful change in the way the police services in England and Wales view knowledge and its role within contemporary policing.
The paper reports on a small pilot study which explored the above themes through semi-structured ... more The paper reports on a small pilot study which explored the above themes through semi-structured interviews of police officers and staff with higher education experiences.
The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked f... more The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.
The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked f... more The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.
The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked f... more The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.
For a number of years there has been a sustained acknowledgement of the worth of ‘transformationa... more For a number of years there has been a sustained acknowledgement of the worth of ‘transformational’ leadership as a catalyst for change within police organizations. Academics, policy makers, and senior officers alike have pronounced the benefits to be enjoyed from the implementation of such leadership models, not least in respect of promoting cultural change. However, this article will present a counter argument to suggest that the application of transformational leadership models to policing contexts is worthy of more robust critique than which, to date, it has been subjected to. In doing so, this article explores the concept of ‘transformational ’ leadership and its relevance to policing contexts. Additionally, the article will suggest that claims of success in effecting cultural change within police organizations are likely to rest on simplistic conceptions of police culture and its relationship to police behaviour.
Despite the wealth of literature focusing on police culture, there is little sense of an 'establi... more Despite the wealth of literature focusing on police culture, there is little sense of an 'established' position on how this concept relates to the issue of police leadership-either in the traditional sense of qualities associated with the senior ranks or of qualities associated with all ranks. In respect of the former, this is because, as Reiner (1992) noted, the growth in research surrounding policing mainly concentrated on explaining the values and behaviours of the lower ranks of the organisation. Indeed, whilst some literature touches upon the nature of this relationship between police culture and leadership (see, for example, Marks, 2007 on the relationship between police culture, leadership and unionism), or explores a particular aspect of it (see, for example, Cockcroft, 2014, on the relationship between police culture and transformational leadership), the relationship has not been more fully articulated. To date, therefore, there has been insufficient attention paid to the identification of a broad explanatory context to facilitate our understanding of this area.
Independent Commission on the Future of Policing in England and Wales, 2013
This chapter reflects upon the relationship between the higher education sector and police servic... more This chapter reflects upon the relationship between the higher education sector and police services in England and Wales over recent years and considers ways in which the emergence of the College of Policing presents new opportunities for furthering the academic status of the learning that occurs within police training contexts. The chapter draws upon the lessons gained from Canterbury Christ Church University's (CCCU) direct experiences of working with the police over the past 17 years in designing, developing and delivering bespoke academic programmes for serving police officers, initial police recruits and prospective police officers. Our starting point is an assumption that higher education (HE) has a positive role to play in helping to develop police training and we concentrate our attention on trying to explain why there is resistance to establishing academic levels of attainment for the learning that takes place within police training and education contexts. We present a number of recommendations regarding ways in which the College of Policing can help overcome such resistance in its efforts to professionalise and modernise policing. Importantly, we recognise the need for a period of transition; there are arguments to be won within all levels of policing and especially with the large number of officers who are, in our view, too often excluded from debates about the role HE can play within policing. We refer to this group of officers as the 'excluded middle', as will be explained below. We have adopted a ten year approach, akin to the approach taken within the Patten Report (1999), to allow for a gradual, but meaningful change in the way the police services in England and Wales view knowledge and its role within contemporary policing.
The paper reports on a small pilot study which explored the above themes through semi-structured ... more The paper reports on a small pilot study which explored the above themes through semi-structured interviews of police officers and staff with higher education experiences.
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Papers by Tom Cockcroft