Professional Policing - BSc (Hons)

This module considers a variety of relevant criminal statutes and police powers and how they apply within the wider criminal justice system and applied practice. It particularly explores the police’s role within the criminal justice system and the importance of the proportionate and necessary application of the criminal law to effective service delivery. The module provides knowledge and critical understanding of the uses of police powers within a liberal democracy and the concept of legitimacy and policing by consent. 

This module explores key terms around professional ethics within policing and investigates the challenges found within tactical, operational and strategic conditions. Students are given the opportunity to critically assess a wide-range of subject matters, including case-studies and ethical dilemmas, in order to enhance understanding and promote further learning. The evaluation and use of ‘policing industry’ process models are also highlighted, including the National Decision Model. This emphasises the importance of ethical, effective and risk-based decisions and outcome focussed approaches. 

This module applies a variety of effective investigative interviewing practices regarding victim, witness and suspect interviews. Students evaluate various interviewing models, tools and approaches that retain the concepts of obtaining best evidence for criminal investigation and court processes. Cognitive approaches are highlighted, along with the application of advanced techniques that support interviewees in memory recall and in student understanding of the psychological and environmental characteristics of memory construction. 

The module covers key ideas and concepts that are essential in developing an understanding of the fundamental aspects of the study of vulnerability and measures used by police forces and agencies to manage public protection. Discussion will be had into the historical context of care within society and how abuse and exploitation of vulnerable groups can take place. Students will explore the causal factors behind domestic and violence and abuse within both the home and wider society. 

In addition to the curriculum content, a range of support workshops will be provided throughout the second year in order to ensure that you are equipped to implement research methodologies to conduct an independent research project in year three. These will be non-credit bearing and will be delivered through workshops, lectures and independent tasks which will be accessible through virtual learning environment systems. 

You will also be allocated a support mentor, who will guide you into discussing potential research topics for your independent research project.

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a credit bearing, 40- week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Undergraduate Degree.    The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.  Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace. 

This module investigates the core issues within police leadership, management and organisational effectiveness. These areas focus on the tactical, operational and strategic practices and theories within contemporary police leadership. Students will also critically evaluate the challenges of police leadership from the further perspectives of critical incident command, equality and diversity and human resourcing practices.  

The module provides students with the opportunity to carry out a substantial and self-directed critical investigation of a specific topic within Policing and Investigation. Students will understand the varying methods of research, including a range of approaches used to analyse and evaluate a specific topic area. For the module, students will be allocated a supervisor who will provide project specific guidance and direction throughout the course of the year.   

The aims of the module are to critically examine the future landscape of policing in England and Wales. Some of these discussions will examine budget cuts and reductions in resources and explore whether this will continue and what implications this would have on managing crime. It will explore the impact of digital technologies within policing and the heightening of moral panics and public fears around specific crime types. The transnational nature of society means that police services in England and Wales are increasingly working with forces from all over the world and the legislative and organisational difficulties will be explored. The module will explore the changing roles and function of officers and whether these trends will continue or whether a reversal of thinking will take place. Including in this will be the increasing use of educational to improve professionalism with reference made to the impact of the national college of policing. 

This module will provide you with a detailed look at the theories that surround terrorism and chart how these have developed through an engagement with a range of far-reaching discussions and different events across the concept’s history.  Discussion and debate surrounding issues such as the definition, history and causes of terrorism as well as highlighting the divergence that exists between “orthodox” and “critical” schools of thought will allow you to engage in an authoritative and critical manner with this topic of tremendous contemporary significance. The module will discuss police and agency responses to terrorism, including the use of intelligence to identify and target known risk groups.  

This module explores community policing and crime prevention in a contemporary society. You will consider the role of community policing and how it can be achieved in practice in light of the challenges of policing in the 21st Century. You will explore both crime prevention theories and the adoption of specific initiatives such as trauma-informed approaches to policing.  

This modules allows students to gain real life experience in a range of different private, public and third sector organisations. The module provides a framework for integrating the principles, tools, theories and methods learnt on policing degree and offers students a degree of freedom to develop a project related to community policing. Rather than writing a research based dissertation, students write a research project report, outlining the aims, objectives, outcomes of their part in a specified and approved community live project, and produce a reflexive learning diary which considers their learning, growth and development as part of the project team and the challenges and opportunities working with others.