Professional Policing

Our Professional Policing degree is licensed by the UK College of Policing and is delivered by leading criminologists and former officers with 30 years’ experience at senior rank in the police service. The course will equip you with the skills and practical experience you need to work in law enforcement, security and all aspects of policing.

• Licenced by the UK College of Policing as a Pre-Join degree for all policing roles.

• Open doors to careers in the private, public or third sector – highly transferable skills mean you will find opportunities in a diverse range of enforcement and investigative settings.

• Taught by experienced former senior police officer and leading criminological academics linking academic theory to practice. This gives unprecedented access to real examples of the materials being taught such as major event management such as the Olympic torch relay in 2012.

• Realistic crime scene investigations using real locations and scenarios which will test your forensic recovery skills as well as a sociological and criminological undertaking of why and how such crimes occur.

• State of the art 3D virtual reality crime scenes to augment the live experience of crime investigation.

• Participate in live suspect interviews using actors to develop your detective skills by real life engagement with the interview process.

• Present your evidence of the case in a simulated court room and learn with our law students who will be practicing their own skills by cross-examining you in the court environment.

• Plymouth is the only University offering this degree in the Southwest Peninsula. Enjoy a beautiful and exciting area with the unique and hidden challenges of policing in a rural, urban, and coastal environment.

In your first year, you will start with a history of the modern police, their role and function and how they respond to public need and gain insights into roads policing and the trauma experienced by first responders. Then, understanding the causes of crime and applying criminological theory, you will problem-solve real policing issues by analysing criminal and community intelligence.

In your second year, by immersing yourself in our realistic crime scene, you will form investigative hypotheses, interview live suspects, and develop policing skills to solve a murder scenario. You will then look at the ethics of the police; the police service operates in a risky environment with the need for fast paced but high-quality decision making. You will work through real-life case studies where the police have caused the death of a member of the public to enhance your decision-making capabilities under stress.

In your final year, you will challenge your understanding of how to safeguard the vulnerable, protecting children and tackling extremist radicalisation and domestic abuse. Police corruption and cyber-crime are examined in depth, and you will be able to contribute to the development of evidenced-based policing through your dissertation research into real-world policing problems.

The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry and up to date information can be found on our website.

For up to date details, please refer to our website or contact the institution directly.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• College of Policing

To work as a teacher at a state school in England or Wales, you will need to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS). This is offered on this course for the following level:

• Course does not award QTS