Our Research
Click to see all our research and project evaluations.
Understanding harm. Strengthening wellbeing. Improving policing.
Why research matters
Our research supports real-world change.
Better working conditions
We provide independent evidence on what harms wellbeing — and what protects it.
Better recovery after trauma
We highlight what genuinely helps people rebuild: reflective spaces, trauma informed leadership, psychological therapies and peer support.
Better services for the police community
Every service we offer is shaped by what people tell us and what our data shows they need.
Better decision making for forces and government
Our findings give leaders credible, practical evidence to invest in approaches that reduce harm and improve wellbeing.
What our Research Covers
Our research sits across five connected themes, all centred on the real experiences of the police community.
We examine how physical and psychological injuries affect people during service and after they leave policing.
Our studies highlight longterm health impacts, financial strain and where organisational support falls short, helping forces understand what fair, consistent support looks like.
Traumatic incidents, shift patterns, job pressure and organisational culture shape mental health.
We’ve led national trauma and wellbeing surveys and developed the UK’s first trauma checklist for policing, giving leaders practical insight into what increases risk and what protects it.
We evaluate wellbeing approaches across policing, from reflective spaces and psychological support to practical interventions for families.
Our evaluations show what makes a meaningful difference, helping forces invest in approaches that actually work.
We carry out market research and service demand studies to understand what people need most from us.
This helps us design services rooted in lived experience, ensuring the support we offer truly meets people where they are.
Our work explores how wider pressures, like overstretched health and social care services, affect policing.
We also model the economic cost of trauma to policing, providing clear evidence for policymakers and national leaders.
Our Evidence Timeline
Our evidence base has grown year on year:
- 2015–2017: Early national studies on injury, fairness and organisational response.
- 2018–2020: Major wellbeing and trauma research, including new recruit training and trauma specific tools.
- 2021–2022: Family impact studies and evaluations of wellbeing services across forces.
- 2023-2024: System pressure research on mental health crisis demand.
- 2025–2026: Service demand insights and the UK’s first economic model of trauma in policing.
