An examination of facilitators and inhibitors to knowledge sharing in a policing environment : lessons from intelligence-led crime management units of the Western Australia Police Service

The objective of this research project was to gain an understanding of the inhibitors and facilitators to knowledge sharing within a policing environment. Although it did not begin with the intention of applying interverntions of any kind, in the course of the thesis it became clear that a form of action research was being employed. Initially, I presented my research proposal as a hermeneutic examination of the facilitators and inhibitors to knowledge sharing in the Western Australia Police. However, somewhere along my research journey I realised that rather than me simply collecting and analysing data from and about my colleagues, we had all become part of the process of changing, acting and reflecting. This is when my hermeneutic approach crossed paths with action research. Using this dual approach, my research explored knowledge sharing in the Western Australia Police within three separate but Integrated dimensions; historical, current and future.