Researching Police Professionalisation in Scotland, Sweden, and Finland

Within this chapter, we will draw on our relevant experience conducting research in this field as both inside/outsiders and outside/insiders (Brown, 1996). We argue that although there have been significant improvements in relation to the research on police professionalisation, there remain several challenges which future researchers may seek to address. Through the lenses of initial police learning, continuous professional development (CPD), and organisational learning, our work helped to uncover some of the deep-seated complexities emerging from the police professionalisation agenda. Focusing on both the wider narrative around police professionalisation and how to research it, we will utilise our experience of mixed-methods, qualitative, cross-national and comparative research, in this case Scotland, Sweden and Finland, to illustrate how our understanding of police-academic partnerships and the professionalisation of police services may be advanced.