Police and Policing

Choosing to write a dissertation revolving around the police and policing can take many different forms. Whether you choose to write about police brutality or the representation of the police in the media, writing about the police can make for a fascinating. Take a look at some suggestions below:

Example police and policing dissertation topic 1:

Public perceptions of the role of the Police Community Support Officer

Having firstly contextualised the historic development of PCSOs and the functions that they have been empowered to enact, this dissertation uses two cases studies: Billy, a PCSO in the City of York, and Dan a PCSO in Co. Durham. Having addressed issues relating to ethics and confidentiality this dissertation not only interviews the two officers with reference to their longer-term career aspirations but also their colleagues and members of the public. Through so doing, a range of different views as to the usefulness and purpose of PCSOs is identified along with the need to re-educate the public’s view of their work as well as offering further career professional development. This is a dissertation that combines an array of different research methodologies and thus offers an (at times bleak) evaluation of the role and expectations of PCSOs amongst themselves, their colleagues and the public.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Caless, B. (2007) ‘Numties in yellow jackets′: The nature of hostility towards the Police Community Support Officer in neighbourhood policing teams’, Policing, Vol. 1(2), pp. 187-195.
• Merritt, J. (2010) ‘W(h)ither the PCSO?: Police perceptions of the Police Community Support Officer’s role, powers and future directions’, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Vol. 33(4), pp.731-749.
• Pamment, N. (2009) ‘We can terrorise them! Young offender perceptions of Police Community Support Officers’, The Police Journal, Vol. 82(2). pp. 171-182.
• Rowell, P. (2010) Assessing the literacy of PCSOs: Have the NPIA and MPS aligned the standard to operational requirements? MSc dissertation, University of Portsmouth.