The research describes the development of the General Attitudes toward Police Scale (GAPS). In Study 1, participants completed a 60-item questionnaire designed to capture general attitudes toward police. IRT was used to develop a 14-item scale. In Study 2, the validity of the GAPS was examined. Participants completed the GAPS, viewed a police-civilian confrontation video, and were asked about the officer’s use of force. Results revealed participants’ scores on the GAPS related to their judgments of police use of force. The GAPS serves as an alternative to existing measures of attitudes when a brief and more general measure is needed.
This article examines operational domestic abuse policies across the four Welsh police forces: South Wales Police, Gwent Police, Dyfed-Powys Police, and North Wales Police. In the absence of a binding national operational policy prescribing a uniform policing response to domestic abuse, forces continue to develop locally defined policies and guidance that vary in scope, legal accuracy, operational coherence, and approaches to safeguarding. Drawing on a comparative qualitative content analysis of policy documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests, the study identifies inconsistencies in how domestic abuse is defined and operationalised, and in how key interventions, including positive action and structured risk assessments, are embedded within force policy. The article argues that policy divergence across Wales creates the conditions for avoidable variation in frontline decision-making, with implications for procedural justice, police legitimacy, and the consistency of victim-facing practice. The article concludes that a standardised, evidence-informed national operational framework would strengthen coherence, accountability, and victim safety in domestic abuse policing.
Taking a trauma informed approach to supervision have shown positive outcomes for police officers, reducing symptoms of burnout or compassion fatigue and improving wellbeing. This paper builds upon the findings of other trauma informed approaches adding a third dimension, by drawing upon criminological awareness as an intervention that could reinforce the sense of wellbeing and recovery capital. Joining psychological health and structural safety with criminological awareness closes the loop within the supervision process by boosting confidence reflexively through informed critical thinking. This gives both line manager and officer the additional tool of applying evidence-based knowledge to support trauma recovery.
Security, as both a phenomenon and a practice, faces challenges from cyber threats and global terrorism, driving rapid technological innovation, as evidenced by patent filings. This study analyses 27,913 patents from 1993 to 2023 on national security and policing technologies from WIPO’s Patentscope. Using mixed methods, especially statistical tests using SPSS, network analysis using Gephi and thematic coding using NVivo, the study identifies inventor networks, jurisdictional trends and emerging technologies. Results show a post-2014 growth in surveillance, data processing and large-scale Machine Learning technology, with the US and China leading the Innovation. The final finding calls for balanced global policies on innovation and ethics, laying down a pathway for future security research. Method: The study retrieved data from the Patentscope database of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva and analysed patent filings in national security and policing technologies spanning 1993 to 2023. Through inclusion and exclusion criteria, 27,913 out of 31,359 patent records were considered for analysis. This Study undertakes a mixed-method approach, i.e., descriptive statistical analysis, chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis Tests in SPSS, network analysis in Gephi, and thematic analysis in NVivo. Results: The study found a significant increase in the number of innovations since 2014, with the majority of contributions from the US and China. At a prima facie level, the advancement in innovation in law-and-order tools for surveillance, data processing, and communication technologies is evident. Towards the later phase, a new shift has emerged in areas like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, signalling a revolution for security providers. Conclusion: The article highlights the importance of technological progress in strengthening global security frameworks and appeals to the international bureaucracies to formulate policies that balance innovation and ethical considerations. These findings may help policymakers, researchers, and security experts gain insights to shape future security strategies.
Police subculture has served as the backdrop for many important studies in the field of policing owing to its unique nature and role it plays in daily interactions with the public. Yet subcultural impacts on training motivation remain poorly understood despite training being one of the key tools of police reform. The present research addressed this gap by surveying Indian police officers to not only assess subcultural dimensions but model the relationships between police subculture and motivation to engage in tactical and non-tactical training. The results revealed that different subcultural dimensions (traditional and non-traditional) evinced unique impacts on the motivation to train and transfer different types of training to policing which partly supported the hypothesized relationships.
