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On Friday 8 May, 2026, COPR hosted its third Early-career Researcher Symposium, bringing together 35 researchers from 15 universities across the UK. Twelve exceptional presentations highlighted how early-career colleagues are addressing key priorities in policing in the UK and beyond. Topics ranged from the custody experiences of female offenders, attitudes and views of elite police officers and teams, microaggressions of police staff, sexual misconduct in policing, domestic-violence related suicides, incel violence (VAWG), perspectives and uses of body-worn video/footage and VR, police ethics, and the consequences of police contact for individuals. This year鈥檚 theme focused on the challenges of policing research, from the processes of obtaining ethical approvals, data agreements and gaining access, to the emotional labour of researching difficult spaces, and the challenge of monitoring the lines between research subjects and collaborators, which can so easily be blurred.

Throughout the day, these core themes cut across different presentations and panels. The importance of nurturing relationships with gatekeepers and maintaining effective communication was considered essential for successful police research partnerships. The challenges of minimising researcher or 鈥渋nsider鈥� bias was another recurring theme, with many speakers discussing how their status as former police officers or staff often afforded them access to hard-to-reach samples and data, but also led to challenges around positionality and how to be both police insiders and objective researchers, simultaneously. There were several discussions around the importance of reflective practices in police research, and how such practices can benefit both researchers themselves and the research they produce. Managing access was also a common theme, with frank discussions on how accommodating academia is when it comes to police research (i.e., how delays on obtaining police access and data can threaten scholarship timeframes and funding). Relatedly, questions were raised around whether academic researchers work with or for police partners, with some speakers navigating access difficulties by offering novel training programmes to police partners. Unsurprisingly, there was much discussion around the challenges of obtaining ethical approvals, especially when it comes to confidentiality and the reporting of sensitive research results and balancing that with a force鈥檚 operational reputational risk. Finally, there were many fascinating conversations around the blue code of silence, police empathy fatigue and suspicion, dark humour, pressure on policing to deal with mental health concerns within the public and in custody, and the hierarchy and power imbalance between police officers and staff.

There was ample time for networking throughout the day, which meant that a number of top police research tips were shared. Make sure the research aligns with ACC鈥檚 and PCC鈥檚 goals and interests, and the forces' broader strategic aims and priorities—this will significantly improve your chances of forging a successful research partnership and ensure the research is relevant, impactful and capable of improving public safety. If possible, emphasise multiagency partnerships as forces understand the immense value of uniting different organisations to achieve shared goals. Offering practical solutions and incentives to police forces, such as training or policy support, can make forces much more amenable to entering research partnerships. Finding trailblazers within the force who will support and promote your research, and act as a bridge between academic research and operational policing can dramatically enhance the success of a research programme. Finally, reach out to and advertise your research via the College of Policing.

The full symposium programme is available here.

Thank you to all of our exceptional speakers and attendees who made the day such a success. We hope to see many of you again next year!