Free course

How police history can inform policing today

Aimed at anyone interested in the history of the police, and of particular relevance to those entering the profession under a Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship programme, this free course demonstrates the relevance of police history for policing today. Each week’s study is focused on a hot topic within contemporary policing (such as professional standards, or gender and the police). Key historical precedents and examples are then introduced to help learners understand how policing in the UK has changed and developed over time, how historical events can inform policing today, and what challenges remain for the future.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

demonstrate knowledge of police history
understand the relevance of police history to contemporary policing
discuss a broad range of historical examples
evaluate the importance of key developments in police history
undertake self-reflection on the core functions of policing.

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First Published: 20/01/2025

Updated: 20/01/2025

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Course content

- Week1Introduction and guidance
3 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  This free badged course, How police history can inform policing today, lasts 24 hours and is comprised of eight weeks. You can work through the course at your own pace. The eight weeks are linked to ensure a logical flow through the course. They are:Policing by consentRace, ethnicity and the legacies of historic policingWomen and policingManaging and professionalising the policePolicing and technologyPolicing public orderEach week should take you around 3 hours. There are a number of ...
  (1)
- What is a badged course?
  (1)
- How to get a badge
  (1)
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Policing by consent
13 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  The ‘style’ of policing said to be practised in Britain – largely unarmed, locally controlled and focused on community engagement – is sometimes described as ‘policing by consent’. It is seen to rest on centuries of tradition and broad popular acceptance of the police within society. Police officers are, in this view, merely ‘citizens in uniform’, doing what any reasonable person would do in their place. But this rosy view of public acceptance of the police has been called into question in ...
  (2)
- 1 ‘Policing by consent’
  (1)
- 2 Declining legitimacy and trust in the police
  (1)
- 3 Policing before the ‘New Police’
  (4)
- 4 Debunking ‘Peel’s Principles’
  (2)
- 5 The introduction to the Metropolitan Police (1829)
  (2)
- 6 The expansion of policing, 1839–c.1880
  (2)
- 7 The transition to a ‘policed’ society, c.1880–1945
  (1)
- 8 A ‘Golden Age’ for policing?
  (3)
- 9 A decline in ‘policing by consent’?
  (1)
- 10 Lessons from the past: manufacturing ‘policing by consent’
  (1)
- 11 This week’s quiz
  (1)
- 12 Summary of Week 2
- References
  (1)
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: Race, ethnicity and the legacies of historic policing
1 page contains author comments.
11 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  The policing of Black and Asian citizens is currently a contentious issue. Statistics compiled by police forces show that Black and Asian citizens are more likely to be stopped and searched, and more likely to be subject to the use of force, than white citizens. A number of police forces have been publicly criticised over deaths in custody of Black and Asian citizens. Some police forces have declared themselves ‘institutionally racist’, while others have refuted the charge. Policing has a ...
  (2)
- 1 ‘Stop and search’ and police use of force
  (1)
- 2 Official reports and public surveys
  (2)
- 3 A brief history of ethnic diversity in Britain pre-1945
  (2)
- 4 Developing diversity after 1945
  (1) (2)
- 5 Policing and the Windrush generation, 1950s–1970s
  (1)
- 6 Early under-/over-policing and miscarriages of justice, 1950s–1970s
  (3)
- 7 Stop and search, ‘SUS’ and public disorder in the 1980s
- 8 The murder of Stephen Lawrence and the challenge of institutional racism
  (1)
- 9 The continuing legacy of historical police practices
  (1)
- 10 Lessons from the past? Mistrust, under representation and over-policing
- 11 This week’s quiz
  (1)
- 12 Summary of Week 3
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: Women and policing
13 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  It is not uncommon for singular events to trigger a broader wave of public protest and scrutiny of the police. One such event was the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021, by a serving Metropolitan Police officer. In the years since this shocking murder, and the subsequent mishandling of a peaceful vigil, a spotlight has been placed on the persistence of sexism and misogyny within policing, and on the impact of this on declining levels of trust in the police. Figure 1: A...
  (2)
- 1 Women in the police and police culture
  (2)
- 2 Women’s trust in the police
  (2)
- 3 Women in early twentieth-century policing
  (2)
- 4 The women police volunteers
  (3)
- 5 Women’s police departments
  (2)
- 6 Fully integrating women into policing
  (3)
- 7 Policing and ‘domestic’ violence
  (1)
- 8 Policing violence against sex workers
  (2)
- 9 Questioning women
  (4)
- 10 Lessons from the past: women and policing
  (1)
- 11 This week’s quiz
  (1)
- 12 Summary of Week 4
  (2)
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5: Managing and professionalising the police
1 page contains author comments.
12 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  Police officers, and whole police forces, are sometimes subject to allegations of misconduct, which are often substantiated by internal and external investigations. Occasionally, scandals erupt when particularly harmful cases of police misconduct are made public. These sometimes relate to serious crimes committed by serving officers, but can also be generated by incompetence, dishonesty or negligence.Figure 1: Protest placards, after two police officers were charged with misconduct for ...
  (2)
- 1 Police misconduct and public trust
  (3)
- 2 Police complaints and professional standards
  (1)
- 3 Professionalising the police in the early nineteenth century
  (1)
- 4 Police misconduct in the nineteenth century
  (1)
- 5 Police misconduct in the twentieth century
  (3)
- 6 Police training
  (2)
- 7 Centralisation and independent oversight
  (1) (2)
- 8 Dealing with early complaints against the police
  (2)
- 9 Independent oversight of police complaints
  (1)
- 10 Lessons from the past: managing and professionalising the police
  (1)
- 11 This week’s quiz
  (1)
- 12 Summary of Week 5
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week6Week 6: Policing and technology
12 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  Rapid technological change is posing new challenges for policing. Cybercrime is constantly evolving. New forms of crime including digital fraud (both corporate and personal), ransomware attacks, online sexual abuse and ‘sextortion’, put police forces under pressure to adapt their training and operational structures to respond effectively. Advances in technology – including new technologies of communication and surveillance, and sophisticated forensic techniques – also offer significant ...
  (2)
- 1 Police use of technology
  (1)
- 2 Criminal use of technology
  (2)
- 3 Managing police data: paper
  (2)
- 4 Managing police data: computers
  (1)
- 5 Communication: telephone and the 999 system
  (1)
- 6 Communication: mobile radio
  (4)
- 7 Finding and identifying criminals: early forensic science
  (1)
- 8 Finding and identifying criminals: forensic science after 1945
  (3)
- 9 Finding and identifying criminals: from cine film to CCTV
  (3)
- 10 Lessons from the past: policing and technology
  (1)
- 11 This week’s quiz
- 12 Summary of Week 6
  (1)
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week7Week 7: Policing public order
1 page contains author comments.
13 pages contain editor comments.
- Current section:
  Introduction
  The maintenance of public order has always been a core police function. While rioting and violent disorder are uncommon, they attract enormous public and political scrutiny when they do occur. Riot policing is often traumatic for the officers involved and puts a spotlight on the efficacy of policing. Recent episodes of public disorder in the UK, including the ‘anti-immigration’ riots of July 2024 and the nationwide riots of 2011, put the police under intense strain and scrutiny.Figure 1: ...
  (2)
- 1 Demonstrations, public disorder and riots
  (2)
- 2 Public order policing under the spotlight
  (1)
- 3 The historical prevalence of violent disorder
  (1) (2)
- 4 The Riot Act and the Peterloo Massacre
  (2)
- 5 The ‘New Police’ and public order during the nineteenth century
  (4)
- 6 Maintaining order in the early twentieth century
  (2)
- 7 The evolution of public order policing in the mid-twentieth century
  (4)
- 8 The ‘militarisation’ of public order policing?
  (2)
- 9 Public order policing in the twenty-first century
  (1)
- 10 Lessons from the past: public order policing
  (1)
- 11 This week’s quiz
  (1)
- 12 Summary of Week 7
  (2)
- References
- Acknowledgements

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How police history can inform policing today

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