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‘It’s a Profession, it Isn’t a Job’: Police Officers’ Views on the Professionalisation of Policing in England

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  • Karen Lumsden

Abstract

This article focuses on police officers’ views on the professionalisation of policing in England against a backdrop of government reforms to policing via establishment of the College of Policing, evidence-based policing, and a period of austerity. Police officers view professionalisation as linked to top-down government reforms, education and recruitment, building of an evidence-base, and ethics of policing (Peelian principles). These elements are further entangled with new public management principles, highlighting the ways in which professionalism can be used as a technology of control to discipline workers. There are tensions between the government’s top-down drive for police organisations to professionalise and officers’ bottom-up views on policing as an established profession. Data are presented from qualitative interviews with 15 police officers and staff in England.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Lumsden, 2017. "‘It’s a Profession, it Isn’t a Job’: Police Officers’ Views on the Professionalisation of Policing in England," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 22(3), pages 4-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:22:y:2017:i:3:p:4-20
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780417724062
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Crank, John P., 1990. "Police: Professionals or craftsmen? An empirical assessment of professionalism and craftsmanship among eight municipal police agencies," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 333-349.
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