The importance of context and cognitive agency in developing police knowledge
| Author | Dominic Wood,Tom Cockcroft,Robin Bryant,Stephen Tong |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X17696101 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The importance of context
and cognitive agency in
developing police
knowledge: Going
beyond the police
science discourse
Dominic Wood
Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Kent, UK
Tom Cockcroft
Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Stephen Tong
Canterbury Centre for Policing Research (CCPR), Canterbury Christ
Church University, Canterbury, Kent, UK
Robin Bryant
Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Kent, UK
Abstract
This paper argues the current exposition of police knowledge through the discourses of
police science and evidence-based policing (EBP) leads to exaggerated claims about what
is, and can be, known in policing. This new orthodoxy underestimates the challenges of
applying knowledge within culturally mediated police practice. The paper draws upon
virtue epistemology, highlighting the role that cognitive agency plays in establishing
knowledge claims. We challenge the assumption that it is possible to derive what works in
all instances of certain aspects of policing and suggest that it would be more apt to speak
about what worked within a specific police context.
Corresponding author:
Dominic Wood, School of Law Criminal Justice & Computing, Canterbury Christ Church University, North
Holmes Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1QU, UK.
Email: dominic.wood@canterbury.ac.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2018, Vol. 91(2) 173–187
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X17696101
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