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This paper aims to explore perceptions and provides insights, from students who volunteer in policing whilst also studying the college of policing licenced professional policing degree (PPD) in Wales. It examines issues that act as enablers and blockers to volunteering in this public service, which also provides opportunities to develop their employability towards the careers to which they aspire. The paper provides insights from students and makes recommendations of interest to multiple stakeholders locally, regionally, nationally and internationally regarding attracting and recruiting volunteers.

Focus groups were conducted with students at three separate universities in the South and West of Wales. These undergraduate students were volunteers in different police forces and agreed to take part in connection with their experiences. The results were analysed using NVivo to establish commonalities.

The paper provides empirical insights concerning the issues surrounding the way those undergoing the process for recruitment as volunteers within policing are either hindered (blocked) or assisted (enabled). It identifies specific problematic areas as well as areas which have been of assistance. Policy makers, educators and recruiters should be aware of such blockers and enablers when considering adopting volunteering as an opportunity to enhance student employability. It also has resonance for other forms of volunteering in alternate public services.

This research is limited to those volunteers who are undertaking the licenced PPD at three separate universities in Wales. Although the research adds to the broader evidence-base with regards to volunteering and its use to enhance employability.

The paper includes practical implications for multiple stakeholders including university programme educators, administrators and decision makers in policing with regards to volunteering, employability, programme structures and process management.

The research is based upon the experiences and perceptions of those individuals who are actually engaged in volunteering.

This chapter integrates both structural and symbolic interactionist perspectives used in the study of collective behavior to provide a thorough examination of the campus culture and student–police interactions that precipitated a riot near James Madison University (JMU). While the analysis is anchored by Smelser’s (1971 [1962]) “value-added” model, it also accounts for cultural conditions common on college campuses. Importantly, the dynamics associated with this case may be similar to other riots – at sporting events, at religious processionals, etc. – occurring when authorities disrupt gatherings that have strong cultural resonance among participants. In these cases, attempts at disruption may be seen as an assault on norms strongly associated with a group’s identity. The study also used a unique data source – 39 YouTube videos posted of the riot event – that made it possible to capture the interactive and emergent quality of rioting behavior in real time from multiple vantage points.

The purpose of this paper is to assist in identifying the value to the student of the College of Policing approved Certificate in Knowledge of Policing (CKP), whilst identifying some of the challenges encountered by both students and staff.

The research involved students completing self-administered questionnaires both on commencing their study of the CKP and completing the programme. Written student feedback was also collected and a focus group was facilitated with the academic teaching staff. The research approach adopted was aimed at influencing the development of the programme, whilst establishing the value of the CKP to students.

The research suggests that completing the CKP did not significantly influence the students’ career choice, however, it did have a positive impact on the development of their confidence in terms of applying for the role of a police officer. Both staff and students identified the quantity of the knowledge to be taught and learnt, with staff also reporting the additional benefit to them of refreshing their subject knowledge.

The external validity of this research beyond the sample group is limited, due to, for example, different programmes of study at different institutions, etc., however, the findings are informative. The reliability of the research is good, however, it must also be considered the behaviour of respondents may have been influenced by taking part in the research. Further longitudinal research should be conducted following cohorts of students completing the CKP through initial application to employment.

The CKP is currently viewed by many as an educational package to be completed prior to an application for employment as a police officer, whereas consideration should be given to using the CKP as a way to inform and build an individual’s confidence that the police officer role is the career for them, or otherwise.

This research has identified how, amongst this group of students, completing the new concept of a pre-employment CKP, approved by the College of Policing, has increased their confidence in applying to become a police officer. As such, this is of value to those teaching the CKP and the College of Policing.

There is considerable evidence to illustrate police occupational culture can negatively influence service delivery and organizational reform. To counteract this, and to improve professionalism, the police services of England and Wales will become a graduate profession from 2020, although little empirical evidence exists as to what impact this will have. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of a police degree course on its students.

Initially, a survey was conducted with 383 university students studying for criminal justice-related undergraduate degrees in a UK university. This indicated Police Foundation degree students (n=84), identified themselves as being different, and behaving differently, to other university students. To explore the reasons for this, four focus groups were conducted with this cohort, during their two-year degree programme.

The study found that the Police Foundation degree students quickly assimilated a police identity, which affected their attitudes and behavior. The process led to a strengthening of ties within their own student group, at the expense of wider student socialization.

The study provides new findings in relation to undergraduate students who undertake a university-based degree programme, tailored to a future police career. The results have implications for both police policy makers and those in higher education as it highlights the strength of police occupational culture and the implications for the design of future police-related degree programmes.

The current study aims to examine problematic behaviors of college students who identified policing as their career of choice.

A self‐report survey was administered and behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, arrest histories, and self‐reported criminality were identified in a sample of 874 undergraduate students, 171 of whom identified policing as their career goal.

Findings indicate that over 60 percent of students (including those interested in becoming police officers) engage in some level of problematic behavior. While policing students engaged in more excessive recent binge drinking, they had a lower rate of arrests and less other‐than‐marijuana drug use than other students.

This research relies on self‐reported data and therefore under‐ or over‐reporting may occur. While the sample of policing students has similar characteristics to those of current police officers in terms of sex and race, generalizability issues from the entire sample may be present.

Findings suggest the importance of identifying and conveying information to students about problematic behaviors that may prohibit gainful employment. Recruitment implications are discussed for police departments as well as implications for areas of inquiry important for background hiring investigations.

The current research explores problematic behaviors of college students in the context of vocational restrictions that students may face from law enforcement agencies. Findings can better prepare students for such vocations and inform hiring agencies of the range of issues from this population of applicants.

This study aims to examine how subgroups within a cohort of Swedish police students value different types of curricula content (i.e. new competencies versus enduring ones) in the context of the currently transforming landscape of basic police training.

Drawing on a Swedish national survey (N = 369), the study examined variations in how students value new versus enduring police curricula content based on sociodemographic factors. Specifically, factors such as student age and gender and the institutional arrangements of education were tested using an independent t test.

The study identified differences in values based on gender. Female students valued competencies such as communication, flexibility, diversity and decisiveness as more important in an educational setting than did males. Fewer differences were found in relation to institutional arrangement, and in-house students valued flexibility and communication skill as more important for educational curricula compared to university-based students. No differences were found in relation to age.

This study adds knowledge to the question of how changes in occupational education policy develop in practice. More specifically, the study explored how students in educational programmes value new versus enduring competencies and whether differences can be identified based on sociodemographic factors. These questions are important because they expose sociodemographic conditions that influence how students value policy-driven skills versus enduring ones.

Given the historical legacy of policing Black bodies, this research focuses on the structures of anti-Blackness within school policing and the strategies students of Color activists use as they work to defund or abolish police departments in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

Specifically, this article looks to Twitter as a counter-storytelling space for students of Color activists to organize and build movements to end anti-Black school policing. Through the frameworks of critical race theory (CRT) and Black critical theory (BlackCrit), this research applies inductive coding to analyze 42 Twitter posts from three students of Color-led organizations based in Los Angeles.

This document analysis presents four themes, which describe four dominant strategies students of Color activists use in their campaigns to defund or abolish school police in the LAUSD: (1) centering Blackness and Black student experiences, (2) making demands for the elimination of funding and support for school police, (3) calling for a shift in funding to support Black students and (4) employing multiple tactics concurrently.

These findings demonstrate the importance of developing and centering a critical understanding of anti-Blackness to achieve racial and educational justice within social movements.

Moreover, the demands of students of Color activists reflect visions of public schools free from anti-Black school policing.

Findings from a prior study confirm schools are relying more extensively on law enforcement to police student behavior (Torres & Stefkovich, 2009). The same study suggests further that decisions to report student offenses to law enforcement may be motivated in part by school poverty and school minority student concentration. These findings are concerning in light of the NAACP's suggestion that disciplinary action may be overly harsh in schools serving large populations of children of color. Minimal research however has examined the effect of policy interventions (e.g., prevention training) and community involvement (e.g., engagement) in minimizing the likelihood student offenses are criminalized. Using the NCES School Survey on Crime and Safety (2000), policy involvement in student discipline is explored by schools’ action in mitigating/resolving problems through prevention, alternative resolution, and external involvement. Implications for ethical leadership and responsibility are explored.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether indirect police contacts through observational learning models impact students’ trust in the police and their perceptions of police bias.

The study is based on a survey at two public universities in the mid-western and southern regions of the USA (921 out of 1,089 responses were retained for this study). The empirical analysis relied on a principle component factor analysis and a multivariate regression analysis.

Results show that three observational learning models (live, verbal, and symbolic) significantly influence perceptions of the police. In particular, the symbolic model is significant regardless of students’ direct and indirect contact experiences with the police.

This study is the first to examine the modeling effects on attitudes toward the police applying the classic social learning theory developed by Albert Bandura. The results highlight the importance of indirect police contact experiences in shaping young citizens’ perceptions of the police.

This study aims to examine Chinese college students' perceptions of police.

Using survey data collected from over 400 college students in two cities, the study empirically analyzes the global and specific perceptions of police among Chinese college students and factors that accounted for the variation in Chinese college students' evaluations of police. The study incorporates a broader range of explanatory variables to explain Chinese college students' attitudes toward the police, including demographic characteristics, crime and criminal justice experience, perceptions of quality of life, and locality. The study reviews research on public perceptions of police published in Chinese academic journals.

College students' global satisfaction with police as well as their specific evaluations of police fairness, effectiveness, and integrity were significantly related to their crime and criminal justice experience, perceived quality of life, and locality. Students' background characteristics only had a weak effect on attitudes toward police.

More empirical research is warranted to gauge the extent of Chinese satisfaction with police and police performance. Future research should continue incorporating crime and criminal justice factors into analysis.

Findings of the study provide Chinese police administrators with useful references and directions to improve police‐community relations..

This study represents one of the few attempts to empirically assess Chinese citizens' perceptions of police. It examines not just Chinese college students' global satisfaction with the police, but also their more specific views of various areas of police performance including fairness, effectiveness, and integrity.