The aim of this thesis is to explore the factors that affect levels of public confidence in policing and use them to develop a framework that will help improve public confidence in the police services of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi. A holistic theoretical approach was adopted based upon a combination of theories from procedural justice theory with empirical research conducted jointly with the Abu Dhabi Police Headquarters. A conceptual research model was then developed which identified potential causal relationships and co-relationships between latent variables. This led to developing the research hypothesis and suggesting underlying structure of the variables and outlining the underlying theoretical structure of the thesis. By using a combination of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) this research then explored the complex hypothesis that Abu Dhabi residents' public confidence in the police is affected by the interaction of multiple confidence variables. Confidence variables, which, relate to perceptions of police procedural fairness, the level of police engagement with their community and the quality of interactions between police and the public. The research found that public confidence in police in Abu Dhabi results from a subtle combination of police influenced factors and local area perspectives. To improve confidence, the police therefore need to carry out more than just their basic functional roles and further consider the way that those roles, procedures and underlying behaviour to the community are perceived by the public. The stakes are high because a lack of confidence in police and government in general can, through various means, encourage individual loyalties elsewhere, some of which can be harmful, especially where the loyalty is with an extremist group; which highlights the need to improve confidence. Improving confidence is much more than simply increasing police visibility and making the public fearful of crime. What is also important is that a high fear of crime has a negligible influence upon levels of police confidence in the police, which highlight the importance of social cohesion and informal social control at a neighbourhood level. On the one hand, when such cohesion and informal control is perceived not to exist, then the public confidence drops and police are blamed for failing to provide order. On the other hand, when public confidence in the police is increased, a stronger sense of security is created, encouraging more confident and positive relationships between local communities, thus reducing perceptions of disorder and improving informal social control. Ultimately, this confidence reduces the fear of crime, improves social identity and willingness to cooperate with police, and a further improvement in public confidence in the police over time.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is part of the Arab region and the globalised world. The Arab region is uniquely moulded by the different forces which are opposites – conflicts and challenges on one hand, and cooperation among the government leaders on the other. These opposing tendencies are fuelled and enriched by economic resources and opportunities; and driven by vision. For example; terrorism, extremism and organised crimes are threats. In order to maintain security, safety and stability, the police forces must implement their well-designed policing strategies. Arab government security organisations and policing strategies are shaped and propelled by the realities of internal and external environment. This thesis discusses, describes and determines the conditions and dynamics of strategic management practices and the indicators of strategic management influences. The Abu Dhabi Police is examined as an example of an Arab government security organisation. The descriptive method of research was used. Primary data are treated quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics. Responses, ratings and rankings; central tendencies; and relationships of variables, indicators and elements are analysed. Lists of suggestions from internal and external respondents are organised and analysed as qualitative aspects of this study. Likewise, validation process about the “why, how and what” of strategic management practices and influences are also conducted using guide questions for the interviews. 1,569 ADP employees and 213 business owners participated as internal and external respondents respectively. Ratings of the five SMP indicators are lower than ratings of the seven SMI indicators. Six out of the seven hypotheses are accepted, and one hypothesis is partially accepted. Summary results reaffirmed the fundamental value of utilising a suitable strategic management system. Continuous improvement of the capabilities of ADP employees, and engagement of stakeholders for policing programmes and services are among the recommendations of this study.

Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is often considered the most important step among the stages in the training cycle and, therefore, should precede any training intervention. However, in spite of the importance of TNA, the literature contains little empirical work on the topic. This study investigates the current practice of TNA within the Abu Dhabi Police (ADP), in order to identify the different barriers to its effective implementation, and to develop a suitable framework that can not only be applied to the Abu Dhabi Police, but also has wide applicability to other public sector organisations. Four areas are examined, these being: current practices of TNA, training decisions, effectiveness of TNA, and the barriers to its implementation. The study adopts a phenomenological approach, using inductive qualitative data in the main. The research population is categorised into three groups: a) policy-makers, top management, and academics, b) trainers, and c) trainees. In total, 51 individuals from the ADP are interviewed. The results show that TNA in the ADP is generally conducted formally on a regular basis. To a certain extent, all the methods are in use by the ADP in identifying its training needs, and the overall perceptions of the respondents regarding TNA practices are high. However, the study has identified some barriers to the implementation of effective TNA practices in the ADP. It is to be noted here that lack of expertise of the trainers; nepotism, kinship and personal relations between the supervisors and the employees, disrupt the training selection process in the ADP. Based on the findings this study has suggested some recommendations. This study hopes to contribute to, and extend, the body of knowledge on TNA by developing a novel, holistic conceptual framework, which provides general guidelines for TNA practitioners in the public sector of the UAE to ensure the successful and effective implementation of TNA. Additionally, it will contribute to the body of knowledge of TNA in the Middle East generally, and TNA in the Middle Eastern public sector, being the first exploratory empirical study conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as far as the author believes.

To ensure greater success in its regular projects, Abu-Dhabi Police (ADP) is working on: training their project managers, applying project management software, utilising the services of engineering consultants, etc. However, the performance and outcomes of its projects are still not fully meeting the desired expectations. Therefore, a study to understand some of the undermining factors was carried out. A critical literature review was carried out initially where it was established that project delivery and outcomes are affected in part by the three overarching factors of: project managers’ characteristics, organizational culture and project management culture. On this basis a conceptual framework was developed highlighting how these 3 compound factors affect project performance and outcome; and in particular how ADP’s values relate with the competencies of their project managers. The empirical aspects involved the use of mixed methods where the first part was a quantitative survey of the understanding and achievement of both ADP’s 5 values (part of organizational culture) and 15 competencies (part of project manager’s characteristics), as well as the impact of the former on the later. A questionnaire was administered to 157 people for data collection and 71 fully completed responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 45%. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the levels of achievement of ADP’s values and competencies, which were found to be high. The analysis went on to use ordered logistic regression to examine the association between the attainment of ADP’s values and competencies. The findings showed that the 5 values impact on the competencies of ADP’s project managers differently; for example, the value of ‘integrity and honesty’ impacts heavily on the 5 competencies of Integration management, Scope management, Time management, Achieving and action, and Leadership; while the value of ‘effective communication’ impacts heavily on the 3 competencies of Scope management, Cost management, and Achieving and action. An advanced training programme was subsequently developed for ADP to further increase the attainment of values and competencies by their project managers. This programme was developed in focus group discussions that involved some selected project managers who had long working experience and high understanding of ADP project schemes. A further round of focus group discussions was also used to validate this advanced training programme.