How those who have served/serving, in the Metropolitan Police Special Branch or Counter Terrorism Command understand their lifeworld

The research project explores how those who have served or are still serving, in the Metropolitan Police Special Branch (SB) or Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) understand their lifeworld. To achieve this, the study will adopt an ethnographic approach, a method for shedding light on police cultures and practices that has been successfully employed in academic studies for decades.

SB/SO15 occupy a unique space, at the periphery of the policing landscape, its roles and work shrouded in secrecy, adverse to intrusive critique that sets them apart. The academic landscape is void of any substantial engagement with SB. SO15 has received more attention in academic works, owing to a more relaxed culture and a less draconian approach to secrecy. The work is significant as it addresses a gap in existing knowledge concerning specialist, semi-secret policing in a liberal, democratic State.

This pioneering endeavour aims to provide the first comprehensive exploration of this specialised field of policing. The proposal seeks access to a pool of seventy-five research participants, primarily drawn from personal contacts established during my own twenty-six years in the police service, sixteen of which were spent in SB/SO15. A significant aspect of this research is the commitment to giving voice to female and ethnic minority officers who have served in SB/SO15. To date, no other academic research has delved into the experiences and perspectives of these individuals.

This study is designed to foster a safe and open environment in which all participants can freely comment on and critique various aspects of their past and current work. The research endeavours to recalibrate the scholarly examination of SB/SO15 by employing ethnographic methodologies to actively engage participants in discourse about their SB/SO15 careers. A multi-dimensional theoretical framework is crucial to guide the research process and enable a holistic exploration of the research topic. Phenomenology serves as a foundational framework for investigating live experiences, while hermeneutics, rooted in the theory and method of interpretinghuman action, offers a lens for analysing the interpretation of individual lifeworlds. By combining phenomenology and hermeneutics, the research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the officers' experiences, perceptions, and the intricate interplay between them that shapes their own lifeworld.

All participants will be asked to complete an online self-report questionnaire, whichwill be used to determine eligibility based on specific criteria, including rank, service dates, gender, and ethnicity. The data obtained will be utilised to characterise the overall participant sample; semi-structured interviews will serve as the primary method for data collection, which will then be analysed and assessed in order to draw out new knowledge, ideas, and conclusions.

The researcher's position as an insider, and his existing professional and social relationships with the participants, introduce potential challenges related to bias and positional proximity. To address these, the research will implement a structured approach to assess the researcher's relationship with each potential participant, taking into account factors such as familiarity and closeness. The goal is to identify and mitigate potential bias. Peer and supervisor debriefing sessions etc will provide opportunities for discussions about ideas, challenges, and any issues that arise during
the research.