Summary
To learn more about what the social scientific research literature can tell us about ‘what works’ in the field of in-service police training, the author attempted to conduct a systematic review of the recent published research on this topic (2000-2015). After initially narrowing the search results to 21 studies, the review had to be abandoned because there was an insufficient number of studies on any one topic or training technique. The author reflects on what this failed review means from the standpoint of the possible economic and social costs of potentially ineffective and inefficient in-service training.