Police in Schools evaluation
Police play a variety of roles in secondary schools across England and Wales, but there is limited evidence on whether these efforts make pupils safer. In a study co-led with colleagues at CASCADE/Cardiff University, we took a two-pronged approach to understanding and evaluating the impact of police in schools. Police in Classrooms, focusing on classroom-based instructional inputs, explored the nature and scope of police teaching lessons on topics related to the law, as well as conducted a small-scale pilot trial of a novel PSHE Association curriculum. Police in Corridors aimed to capture the breadth of other police activities in schools, including conducting patrols, sharing resources and intelligence, and providing support to pupils and teachers. These two pilot reports found that:
Police activity in schools is widespread, with most police forces across England and Wales doing this work in some form, but the nature and instructional content vary considerably, with activities often responding to school priorities or recent incidents.
While pupils and teachers were generally positive on police working in schools, Black children were less likely to have positive perceptions than children of other ethnic backgrounds.
A randomised evaluation approach of the new Police in Classrooms curriculum is feasible.
We are now scaling up the Police in Classrooms evaluation to an efficacy trial, to better understand how this intervention might impact pupil safety and perceptions of police.
Thanks to the funders Youth Endowment Fund; delivery partners PSHE Association, Avon and Somerset Police, Bristol schools, and The Metropolitan Police; and National Police Chiefs' Council.