Training/learning/development

INTERVIEW: As police forces in England and Wales ramp up their recruitment programmes, concerns continue to be raised about the pressure to meet Home Office targets affecting the competence of new recruits; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Alison Lyle, Senior Lecturer in Policing at Sheffield Hallam University, about their courses to educate and professionalise the next generation of police officers.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Frontline Fulfilment is a collaborative event between the emergency services and education sectors, highlighting the opportunities for a ‘people-first’ future by exploring both common concerns and potential shared solutions; Mightify CEO Tom Wheelhouse explains the thinking behind next week’s free event, and what it aims to achieve.

OPINION: The Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA), which represents officers in forces across England and Wales as well as those in the Isle of Man, Bermuda and Gibraltar, recently announced the launch of a programme of CPD events for superintendents, in collaboration with the College of Policing; PSA President Paul Griffiths discusses why the need for professional development never ends, regardless of rank.

OPINION: Paul Odle, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales’ Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic & Belief group and a serving Metropolitan Police officer, believes that while current unconscious bias training is not fit for purpose, it should be updated and amended, not abandoned.

OPINION: In December the UK Government confirmed that it was scrapping standalone unconscious bias training for civil servants, citing a report that suggested it was ineffective, and could even be counter-productive; but Police Ethics Advisor Montell Neufville believes such training – particularly when delivered as part of wider learning on diversity, cultural competency or risk management – still has an important role to play in policing.

OPINION: Embarking on academic study is challenging, particularly for anyone with a specific learning difficulty and few formal educational qualifications; but with the right support from policing and academia, real achievement is possible, explains Essex Police Sgt Ben Forbes, British Citizen Award winner and now First-Class BSc Honours graduate.

FEATURE: In our continuing series supporting new police degree entry recruits, Policing Insight’s Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly takes a final look at evidence-based policing, and the challenges of taking EBP forwards from research theory to embedded, applied practice within policing organisations.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: University of Buckingham is launching a new PG Cert and Master’s programme in Transnational Organised Crime. The programmes are aimed at the next generation of police and law enforcement leaders, including officers, detectives and analysts, as well as those looking to gain a qualification that would enable them to build long-term careers in law enforcement, security and intelligence.

OPINION: In recent years major changes to policing have included a transformation of recruitment practises that have changed the workforce demographic; Ian Lithgow, IBM’s Partner responsible for Talent and Transformation, explains how a more strategic approach to workforce planning can make a difference.