As we celebrate the first anniversary of the UWE Bristol Policing blog, we are thrilled to introduce our new series, “A Day in the Life of…,” where we explore the daily experiences of those who serve, protect and respect our communities. This series aims to provide an insider’s perspective on the diverse roles within policing and associated professions, highlighting the dedication, challenges, and triumphs faced by our contributors.
Each post will feature a unique voice from the field, including police officers, educators, and other criminal justice practitioners. Through their stories, we hope to shed light on the realities of day-to-day criminal justice work, what they find most rewarding, and even their favourite breakfast to start the day!
We invite you to join us as we step into the shoes of these dedicated professionals and gain a deeper understanding of the hard work and commitment that goes into the profession of policing and partner agencies.
We are delighted to launch this series with a contribution from Sir Steven West who has been Vice-Chancellor of UWE Bristol since 2007. His responsibilities include being the academic leader and chief executive, responsible for the strategic oversight, financial sustainability, and academic direction of the University. As UWE’s Policing Programme seeks to influence a new generation of officers, we were interested in hearing more about his typical day.
How does your day start? Do you have a favourite breakfast?
A workday starts around 6am getting to UWE around 7:15am. Atrium 8am Tea and Croissant with jam and butter or toast with marmite.
What does a typical day involve?
Involves a number of meetings and committees in person and online. E-mails, letters and reports. A lot of reading and writing and if i’m lucky some visits to research centres and teaching.
What aspects of your job do you find most rewarding?
Meeting staff and students and seeing the brilliant things they are doing every day. Great research and enterprise and inspiring teaching in simulation labs.
What do you see as the main benefits of a university education for police officers?
The overwhelming benefit is having time to learn and expand your horizons. Graduate thinking is about challenge, curiosity, a thirst to find truth and applying all of that to developing new skills and deep understanding. It’s about thinking differently to problem solving and invention. My first degree was a 4-year top-up degree I did part-time in podiatry. I was working full-time in the NHS and had one day a week at university. I learnt a lot about myself, how I learnt and most importantly how I could continue to learn and develop on my own.
What do you feel is the value of apprenticeships at UWE and the continued strengthening of relations with Avon and Somerset Police?
It’s clear the apprenticeship revolution will continue to grow and develop at all levels. I think increasingly lifelong learning will look more like modular apprenticeships creating more access and more engagement throughout someone’s career.
And lastly, what do you do for fun?
I’m a scuba diver, dog walker and I love nice cars and mowing my grass on a sit on mower!
Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).
If you would like to be a guest blogger, please contact Police.Blog@uwe.ac.uk