This paper marks the launch of a new research project by the Police Foundation examining the design choices made by English and Welsh police forces in delivering local policing. It takes as its starting point the large variation and frequent change in local operating models that has occurred over the last 10 to 15 years. The project will seek to capture learning from police strategists and practitioners, as well as from data analysis and international comparisons, about the narratives, rationales and consequences of organisational design, to inform thinking about the policing
models best suited to the mid-21st century operating environment.