Making and Breaking Barriers: Assessing the Value of Mounted Police Units in the UK

制造和打破障碍：评估英国骑警部队的价值

• 批准号: ES/L001918/1
• 负责人: Ben Bradford
• 金额: $ 7.02万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FL001918%2F1
• 关键词: Making; Breaking; Barriers; Assessing; Value

In this project, we propose to investigate the ways in which mounted police work is experienced in the UK through a unique observational methodology alongside focus groups with police officers and policed citizens. This research will build on current work being undertaken through the University of Oxford on behalf of UK police forces, to build an evidence base on which future strategies and priorities regarding mounted policing can be set. This project is being supported by mounted police units across the UK, and has secured significant financial and in-kind contributions from police partners. Mounted police - police horses and riders - are used as a tool of public policing around the world. They are used primarily in public-order police work, and are thought to be particularly useful in the pacification of large crowds. They have become a nearly ubiquitous sight at football matches, and they have also been used in more creative deployments including search-and-rescue operations, burglary prevention initiatives, and urban patrols. They represent a symbol of physical force as well as a connection to past eras of policing. They are also among the most poorly-understood tools in modern public police work.Police on horseback are thought to calm crowds and avert serious instances of disorder. Anecdotal evidence suggests that one horse and rider may be equivalent to six or more officers on foot in some situations. However, in current conditions of austerity, they are under threat of elimination across the UK and these policy decisions are being undertaken without recourse to evidence. Police forces across the UK are considering disbanding their mounted capacities or reducing their contributions to mounted work through amalgamating these units with multiple other forces. The relative costs and savings of these decisions are only vaguely understood at present, since virtually no focused research has ever been conducted on the effectiveness of mounted units. They cannot be easily compared to other forms of police work and there is no empirical basis on which to make claims regarding their utility.The project's research team is currently involved in initial work with UK police, including literature review and the development of quantitative criteria for measuring the performance of mounted units. However, it is recognized by all project partners that standard measures of police performance, such as arrest statistics, will be inadequate to understand these units' overall value in the relationship of UK police to society. In the research proposed here we are therefore seeking to understand the qualitative aspects of mounted police work, in particular to understand how they are seen by citizens subject to mounted policing.The core research questions of this project are: How do publics and police experience mounted police work? And, are there situations in which mounted police have special value when compared to similar non-mounted police? Over 12 months, we will address these questions by engaging in systematic observation and focus-group work with police and citizens who have experienced mounted policing. We will engage in ethnographic observations alongside the systematic approach, and will seek input from police forces internationally - such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - to help situate our research within a broader policing picture.The research will generate user impact through a report, multiple workshops and a national event for police partners. The project has also received attention in the national media, highlighting the importance of police and horses in UK society. It will also be the first substantive investigation into this aspect of police work, and will be of interest to academic audiences internationally. We intend to produce 2-3 articles for publication in high-quality journals such as Policing and Society and will present our findings at the 2014 British Society of Criminology conference.

在这个项目中，我们建议通过一个独特的观察方法，与警察和警务公民的焦点小组一起，调查在英国骑警工作的方式。这项研究将建立在目前正在进行的工作，通过牛津大学代表联合王国警察部队，建立一个证据基础上，未来的战略和优先事项，就安装警务可以设置。该项目得到了联合王国各地骑警单位的支持，并从警察合作伙伴那里获得了大量的财政和实物捐助。骑警--警用马匹和骑手--在世界各地被用作维持公共治安的工具。它们主要用于维持公共秩序的警察工作，被认为在安抚大批人群方面特别有用。它们已经成为足球比赛中几乎无处不在的景象，它们也被用于更具创造性的部署，包括搜索和救援行动，入室盗窃预防措施和城市巡逻。它们代表着武力的象征，也是与过去警务时代的联系。骑马也是现代公共警察工作中最难理解的工具之一。骑马的警察被认为是为了平息人群，避免严重的骚乱事件。传闻证据表明，在某些情况下，一匹马和一名骑手可能相当于六名或更多的徒步军官。然而，在目前的紧缩条件下，它们在整个英国都面临着被淘汰的威胁，这些政策决定是在没有证据的情况下做出的。联合王国各地的警察部队正在考虑解散他们的骑警能力，或通过将这些部队与其他多支部队合并，减少他们对骑警工作的贡献。这些决定的相对成本和节省目前只是模糊的理解，因为实际上从来没有对安装单元的有效性进行过重点研究。它们不能轻易地与其他形式的警务工作进行比较，也没有经验基础来证明它们的实用性。该项目的研究小组目前正在与英国警方进行初步合作，包括文献综述和制定衡量安装单元性能的定量标准。然而，所有项目伙伴都认识到，对警察业绩的标准衡量，如逮捕统计数字，不足以理解这些单位在联合王国警察与社会关系中的总体价值。因此，在这里提出的研究，我们正在寻求了解骑警工作的定性方面，特别是要了解他们是如何被公民看到安装policing.The核心研究问题的这个项目是：公众和警察的经验骑警工作？又是否有一些情况，是骑警较非骑警有特别价值的？在12个月的时间里，我们将通过与经历过骑警的警察和公民进行系统观察和焦点小组工作来解决这些问题。我们将在系统方法的同时进行人种学观察，并将寻求国际警察部队的投入-例如皇家加拿大骑警-以帮助在更广泛的警务画面中扩展我们的研究。该研究将通过一份报告，多个研讨会和一个全国性的警察合作伙伴活动产生用户影响。该项目也受到了国家媒体的关注，凸显了警察和马匹在英国社会中的重要性。这也将是第一次对警察工作的这一方面进行实质性调查，国际学术界人士将对此感兴趣。我们打算在高质量的期刊上发表2-3篇文章，如《警务与社会》，并将在2014年英国犯罪学学会会议上展示我们的研究结果。

项目成果

Making and Breaking Barriers Assessing the value of mounted police units in the UK: Summary report

制造和打破障碍评估英国骑警部队的价值：总结报告

• 发表时间: 2014
• 作者: Giacomantonio, G

Making and Breaking Barriers Assessing the value of mounted police units in the UK

建立和打破障碍评估英国骑警部队的价值

• 发表时间: 2015
• 作者: Giacomantonio, G

Experiments in policing: The challenge of context

警务实验：环境的挑战

• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: European Journal of Policing Studies
• 作者: Bradford B