Joanne Klein, a professor of history, presented her paper “Educating the Public: Police and Public Safety in England and Wales” to the European Social Science History Conference at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, in March 2025.
From their founding, police forces in England and Wales organized programs to educate the public to protect themselves from becoming victims of crime. Everything from how to navigate city streets safely to fire safety, from anti-fraud tips to the dangers of drink spiking. They share information on mental health resources, and answer questions about stalking and harassment. Whether or not the public found these programs to be useful can be difficult to measure. Social media allows the public to respond to police efforts directly, with supportive, critical and sarcastic responses. This paper explores police education programs, with a particular focus on public reactions to social media efforts.