The OU celebrates ten years of policing

The Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) marked its 10th anniversary with a two-day conference celebrating the milestone. 

The event included panel discussions, collaborative workshops and featured several high-profile keynote speakers including Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Jason Hogg and Prof Sarah Charman from the University of Portsmouth. 

CPRL was established in 2014, initially as a four-month proposal to undertake research in partnership with seven police forces across the UK. In that short time, the team undertook two demonstration projects to show what police-academic collaboration could achieve. The projects focused on face recognition and the use of a gaming approach to improve the interviewing of child witnesses; both of which are still topical issues in policing.  

Since then, the Centre has developed a wide-ranging, ambitious and innovative programme of activities involving research, education and knowledge exchange. It works collaboratively with a partnership of 22 police forces, as they adapt to a changing policing landscape, with its greater emphasis on evidence-based practice.

The conference, titled ‘Retention & Prevention: Challenges and New Opportunities for Policing Futures’, included the prestigious Steven Chase Memorial Award in recognition of contribution made by the first police Chair. 

The award for ‘Research into Practice and Practice into Research’, which recognises excellent and impactful research in policing, went to Dr Keely Duddin and Dr Kendal Wright for their project on mothers’ experiences during pregnancy and returning to work after maternity leave. 

The project has influenced national guidance and policy having been integrated into British Transport Police’s family friendly guidance; it has formed part of the academic support for NPCC national guidance; and it has informed the Metropolitan Police’s work on welfare passports and support for dual-force couples. 

We are incredibly grateful to receive this award, which reflects the collaborative effort behind our research on maternity experiences in policing. This work would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions of the wider research team, police forces, stakeholders, and participants who have driven our understanding forward. We are committed to continuing this work to ensure women and parents experience positive, supportive maternity and parental journeys in policing, paving the way for meaningful change.”

Keely Duddin