Feature: EMPAC is a Research, Innovation and Enterprise zone

Research, Innovation and Enterprise are central to what policing in the East Midlands is all about. EMSOU has been hailed as the best example of collaborative working of its type in the UK. Now, EMPAC is actively researching in several areas to discover new ways of doing things or responding to dynamic change. Research into leadership is exploring how hierarchies might be holding potential back; research into doorstep crime is seeking new ways to protect the most vulnerable in society.

EMPAC’s innovation and enterprise is all about collaborating across the region to try new initiatives, informed by scientific and social scientific research.

Pioneering work from East Midlands universities is having a huge impact on policing: from modern slavery being identified and combatted, to unleashing the potential of citizen volunteers, through to understanding how reported hate crime and cyber offences are on the increase.

Like our sister unit in Scotland (SIPR) EMPAC, as well as finding out, is doing: with a close knit collaboration between research and practice, the join is so much seamless as not there – policing professionals and researchers are able to identify need, discover, analyse, and create solutions for operational intervention in one smooth cycle. The ultimate benefit of the EMPAC structure is in its ‘business as usual’ end to end collaboration – sections and departments do not need to be brought together in a knee jerk fashion costing valuable time. Multi-disciplinary approaches rooted in professional application are in place now meaning identifying and responding to emergent need is dynamic.

Creating an environment where the culture of collaboration, tightly knit across the region, with broad professional experience and local operational resource to deploy, creates a formidable unit to respond to, and get ahead of, criminal initiatives  getting the best protection for the public.

EMPAC, through its core business of research, innovation and enterprise is not just exploring the future – it is the future of professionalising policing.