Welcome to the new UWE Bristol Policing blog!
Because of all the wonderful achievements over the past years, we wanted to have a forum to share them. Somewhere that student and staff achievements can be shared, showcased. A place to share thoughts, research, opinions, publications, and all other things policing at Avon and Somerset Police (ASP) and UWE Bristol. So, we have put together a schedule of events, thoughts and interests to bring to you over the coming year and hope you not only find them of interest but want to make your own contribution. You can do through the editorial team, noted at the end.
Reflections on progress
So, to start, just some reflections on the programmes and recent successes….
The Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) was launched by UWE Bristol and ASP in May 2019, as part of the new College of Policing Professionalisation movement. The first cohort numbered 30 newly appointed apprentices or student officers who were the trailblazers for the programme that has since had 23 cohorts, 6 of whom have passed through the End Point Assessment. This has been a challenging but rewarding time for all involved, the apprentices, UWE Bristol staff and the ASP Learning Department not only due to the continuous development of the programmes but also facing the unprecedented complication of a pandemic.
Without warning, both staff and students had to pivot from a classroom led programme of study into an online virtual world. A world new and different to all of us, fraught with technical difficulties (“my Wi-Fi doesn’t work”) security difficulties (never heard of Cisco Webex!) and, of course, Covid-19 itself. Most of us made it but some, sadly lost their battle.
Nevertheless, May19 graduated in 2022 with five students achieving a first-class hons classification. Pictured here, the first cohort were instrumental in not only the way the programme has been redesigned, but also in how operational learning has developed; how to write reflections, the extension of the initial training carousel and much, much more.
Evidence-based Policing in practice
Since then, there have been many more graduates who have produced a wealth of interesting and impactful research that has begun to influence policing and policy practices. All research projects available through the new repository, open to everyone who wants to explore a new and evidence-based way of policing, problem solving and policy making. A more recent success was that of PC Gary Berry, who presented at the UWE Social Sciences Student Conference this summer and won first prize for his PCDA dissertation research entitled: An Investigation into the Barriers Involved in Preventing Police Officers from Utilising Stop and Search Powers. This is a wonderful achievement. Many congratulations to Gary.
Inspections and awards
At the end of last year, UWE Bristol and ASP were subject of an Ofsted Inspection and then earlier this year, an End Point Assessment Quality Inspection and in both of which, the overall rating was ‘Good’. This is a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work that goes into supporting new officers from recruitment through to graduating as a fully occupationally competent officer. UWE Bristol was recently ranked in the Top 20 Apprenticeship providers and furthermore, the Avon and Somerset Police PCDA has been ranked 75th in the Department of Education’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Providers List. A great accolade to all involved!
Investing in the future
Investment at the Frenchay campus has led to bespoke teaching space that provides state of the art classrooms and forensic space for simulation work so crucial to the application of legislation, policy and theory to practice. This gives all our student officers the opportunity to ‘get it wrong’, reflect and develop the knowledge skills and behaviours needed to be effective ‘on the street’; critical thinkers in times of problem orientated policing strategies.
Leading through change
There have been many staffing changes too. A new Chief Constable Sarah Crewe when CC Andy Marsh moved on to become the CEO College of Policing. Mark Shelford taking over the reigns as the PCC, Chief Officer Dan Wood moving over to UWE as Chief People Officer and many, many more. The most notable recent change in ASP is the welcoming of Ferzana Shan as the new Head of Learning, and in UWE, Dr James Lee as the Deputy Head of College. The development of both the ASP Practice Development Unit and UWE policing team has seen an exponential growth to cater for the uplift and introduction of the Degree Holder Entry Programme for Detectives (DHeP), which launched in 2021. Training the investigators of the future, the DHeP works closely with ASP to ensure the best training for new detectives to take on the complex task of investigating crimes and bringing justice to victims.
Looking forward
As you can see, a very busy four plus years since the first PCDA was launched. Moving to the future, the new Professional Policing Degree starts in September 2023 bringing all three College of Policing degree routes together. We are also now developing a Level 6 Top-Up in BSc (Hons) Applied Criminal Justice, giving those long-standing officers the opportunity to use AEL (Accredited Experiential Learning) and undertake just the final year of a degree programme, giving them accreditation for all their years of experience and the chance to join the evidence-based policing movement.
So once again, welcome to the UWE Policing Blog. We hope you find the topics of interest over the coming weeks and months as the UWE Bristol, ASP team and other guests share their knowledge and experiences and in the words of the late Robin Williams remember, ‘no matter what people tell you words and ideas can change the world’.
Be safe and be kind.
Dr Anne Eason
Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Middleton (Tripartite Assessor – Policing); Eve Smietanko (Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).
If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact paul.williamson@uwe.ac.uk.