West Mercia Constabulary signs new training agreement with the University of Teesside

A new training agreement for police recruits has been signed by West Mercia Constabulary and the University Of Teesside

The move will see probationers, now to be known as student officers, undertaking a two-year foundation degree course in Professional Policing, in partnership with the University’s School of Social Sciences and Law.

The course combines practical police training with academic work, covering criminal investigation, responding to and managing incidents, and reassuring and protecting the community.

It will be delivered at two sites - West Mercia Constabulary’s Recruiting and Specialist Training Centre at force headquarters, Hindlip Hall, near Worcester, and Wellington Police Station, Telford. The first 20 recruits will begin their training at headquarters next April.

The move reflects a change in the way police training is being delivered nationally. The aim is to provide training that is better tailored to meet local requirements, and also reflect modern policing.

By making forces responsible for training new officers, they can be trained within the communities they will serve and will no longer be expected to spend long periods of time away from their families.

Probationers currently spend 12 weeks at a national Centrex training centre. Centrex, the Central Police Training and Development Authority, has announced its sites in Ashford (Kent), Bruche (Warrington) and Cwmbran (Wales) will close in May.

The closure of the three sites is a direct result of the change from the current Probationer Training Programme to the new Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP), designed for local delivery of probationer training in force.

Project manager for West Mercia, Inspector Jacky Smith said: “The Foundation Degree will provide student officers with all the skills and knowledge they need to become practical and competent police officers. A Foundation Degree is an employer-led vocational qualification. There will be modular-based learning and on the job training, leading to a nationally recognised higher education qualification.

“The course was developed to meet Home Office requirements for newly recruited police officers to be trained and educated within the communities which they will serve.

“This is a very exciting development and we are very much looking forward to working with the University of Teesside.”

Chief Constable Paul West said: “In support of our Quality People key principle, I am seeking to establish an environment in which all of our staff are trained locally, to our standard, with the help, support and involvement of communities we serve in order to achieve our policing objectives both now and in the future.”

Liz Barnes, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Law, said: “We are pleased to be working with West Mercia Constabulary on this new and exciting initiative.

“We have previously worked with West Mercia officers on our specialist courses and look forward to extending this relationship. This work builds on and enhances our work in initial police training already established with the Cleveland Police force.”

Police officers who wish to continue with their studies after completion of the Foundation Degree will be able to progress on to the final year of an honours degree such as BSc Investigative Studies.

---