Throughout Europe, the public sector has changed out of all recognition in the past two decades. This has been due to changes in the political climate, funding status, privatisation of services, restructuring, introduction of private sector fiscal and management policies and a new ethos of measuring the contribution of public sector employees through preordained performance measures. In England and Wales, such changes have affected the police service. It has experienced radical changes and restructuring, particularly in the 1990s. This has occurred as a result of independent enquiries into police officers' roles and responsibilities (Sheehy, 1993; Home Office, 1995; Cassells, 1996 and the Audit Commission, 1996), changes to pay and conditions (1994 and 1996 PNB Agreements) and the implementation of Human Resource Management practices and techniques by force management. Against the backdrop of this fundamental change within the service, the Police Federation of England and Wales commissioned the University of the West of England, Bristol to examine the training and continuing development of police officers up to and including the rank of Chief Inspector. The paper will draw on the findings from this enquiry, which involved 2,000 officers and concentrated on their experience of initial training and subsequent opportunities for CPD. This paper has significant implications for the public sector in Europe, particularly as all Governments are under pressure to provide "value for money" public services, whilst maintaining the highest possible standards. This topic will be of considerable interest to the emerging Eastern European democracies, who are having to redefine their public sectors.