The general public know more about issues critical to
policing then than the police themselves, according to new research conducted
by an academic at London South Bank University (LSBU).
Researchers examined misconceptions of legal issues by law
enforcement officers compared to the general public’s knowledge on these
topics. The research is the very first study to look at these misconceptions in
the UK.
Dr Julia Shaw, Senior Lecturer at LSBU, and Parole Officer
Chloe Chaplin provided 44 police officers and 56 members of the general public
questions on several topics relevant to modern policing.
The study – published in the Journal of
Police and Criminal Psychology – asked participants to complete
an online questionnaire comprised of 50 true and false items. The questions
covered a range of legal topics including police procedures, dealing with
mentally ill people, and eyewitness memory. Participants were asked to rate
their confidence in each of their answers on a 5-point scale from one being the
most confident to five being the least confident.
Despite direct involvement and relevant experience with
the subject matter, the study found that police got more of their answers
incorrect than the general public. Police got 39% of their answers wrong,
whilst members of the public made only 37% of errors. However, police were
found to be 4% more confident in their responses than the public even when
wrong.
Dr Julia Shaw said: “Overconfidence is a common
characteristic in professional industries, as there is an assumption by
professionals that they must know more about their own topics than outsiders.
However, when applied to policing, this can have severe consequences for our
justice system.
“This research shows that British police do not know
enough about things like how eyewitness memory works, how to effectively
question suspects, and what kinds of services offenders have access to.
“While public beliefs about issues relevant to the legal
system have been demonstrated to often be wrong, this was the first study to
look at these misconceptions in policing. It is expected that the research will
be used to inform police training in the future.”
2 comments:
For all we know, the 'overconfident' police personnel may well be perfectly correct according to Justice Secretary Michael Gove's vison for the rule of law as it should be according to Michael Gove.
Perhaps more people should examine the pro-Human Rights Act Act for the Act website?
Act for the Act say:
"Our government wants to scrap the Human Rights Act.
"Act for the Act is urging Justice Secretary Michael Gove to think again. Scrapping the Human Rights Act would leave all of us unprotected when something goes wrong - and mean we have little chance of putting things right...."
In the UK benefit sanctions have become what Dr David Webster of Glasgow University calls 'Britain's secret penal system'. Well, first the abusers of our human rights come with their smear stories. Ultimately, the law and justice are everybody's business.
With Michael Gove as Justice Secretary and the Human Rights Act under threat, surely the law and justice are everybody's business?
Comment from Nic Lane via email:
HAHAHA...
Dr Julia Shaw said: “Overconfidence is a common characteristic in professional industries, as there is an assumption by professionals that they must know more about their own topics than outsiders.
SO, does that also apply to academics who choose to use ungainly small and complex qualitative localised data sets to produce quantative generalised "global" statements?
"However, when applied to policing, this can have severe consequences for our justice system.
“This research shows that British police do not know enough about things like how eyewitness memory works, how to effectively question suspects, and what kinds of services offenders have access to."
I'd genuinely love to see Dr Shaw's access list for offender services. I perhaps might even be able to forward it to LB Brent's Housing Options Team, Brent Sure Start, Crisis and a whole other bunch of overfunded blinkered old nags...
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