Police Academic Partnerships: Reflections on the Scottish Experience

Police Academic Partnerships: Reflections on the Scottish Experience The Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) is a collaboration between 13 universities, Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority. Given 18 years of partnership, SIPR provides an interesting and important way to critically assess the actual and desired relations between police and academia, navigating and negotiating a multitude of cultural differences (and similarities) between academics and police organizations. At a practical level, this reflects challenges (actual and imagined) of managing research with/on/for/by practitioners in different ways while balancing independent research agendas with requirements for access and the drive for “impact” within the academy. Using SIPR as an example, this article reflects on what a successful police-academic partnership (PAP) looks like in this context, including some of the cultural challenges balanced against the opportunities provided by the professionalization of the police and the wider impact agenda, before concluding by exploring the balance required in maintaining relationships, criticality and access through a mature PAP.