Management development in the policing environment. A cross cultural comparative study of the views of police managers concerning management development issues. RichardsRobert Malcolm. 2015 The primary purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that:- Management development as it is currently understood can be transferred to the police service" Information about the current position was sought in terms of both its effectiveness and the level of understanding of the concept of management development. Questionnaires were distributed to managers of all ranks within the author's own force, an American police department and a sample from English and Welsh forces. The study examined five areas of management development. These were: the concept; succession planning; personal development; staff appraisal and training. Analysis of the data revealed that the concept of management development was not understood by many of the individuals participating in the study. As a result the significance of the other areas as elements of the overall system were lost on many of the respondents. Despite the difficulties identified by the study the author's detailed research leads him to believe that management development as it is currently understood can be transferred to the police service providing certain criteria were met. The study concludes with a number of recommendations to assist forces to implement a structured management development programme. A secondary objective of the research is to survey potential executive officers attending the most senior police management course to ascertain whether there were similarities in their career profiles which could be used to develop potential senior managers in the most appropriate manner. The author questions the validity of the current criteria for selection to the course but recognises that whilst they remain the results from this study, which identified emerging trends in both the personal and career profiles of attendees, are relevant. Consequently they should be of benefit to forces in identifying and developing future senior executives.