Police officers' understanding of human trafficking in Kent: invesitigation, training and knowledge

Research into the impact of training is non-existent for human trafficking, this is in despite of requests for evaluation appearing frequently in academic literature. This study examines the impact of human trafficking training on police officers’ understanding in Kent Police, a county in England, United Kingdom. The first two stages of the study evaluate the immediate knowledge gained from the training, whilst the final stage is completed after a six month period when the officers’ knowledge is measured again to explore the long-term impact of the training course. This study highlights the struggle faced by police officers in defining human trafficking and understanding victim consent, but showcases the impact of training on improving understanding in key areas such as initial officer actions and removing harmful stereotypes, often seen within human trafficking. The third stage emphasises the need for police training to learn from educational research to improve memory retention. Recommendations are provided to assist Kent Police and wider human trafficking research to develop this further.