Is there a degree that prepares you for policing?

HOW do you design a degree course comprehensive enough to demonstrate an ability to be an effective police officer?

That is the question posed by South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Zuleika Payne in response to College of Policing plans for all new recruits to the service to require a degree. She has concerns that there will not be an appropriate course that can prepare new officers for the challenges of policing.
“How do you offer a qualification in a profession where the key is to think on your feet, make a very quick objective assessment of the situation that you’re presented with and sometimes that can be within a matter of seconds,” questioned Zuleika.

“How do you train, prepare and equip somebody to do that with an academic qualification?”

She added: “I am aware that South Yorkshire Police, alongside our collaborative partners Humberside, are involved with the Police Now pilot, which asks that candidates have at least a 2:1 entry level degree. What a degree will demonstrate is that an individual has the ability to research, retain and present information, but that’s not solely and exclusively what is required to be an effective, highly practical, operational police officer.

“They are useful skills and attributes to have, but policing is far more involved. The concern here would be how we assess the quality of the candidate. There are lots of questions that remain unanswered.”

Zuleika, who didn’t have a degree when she joined the job but has gained one since, added: “The concern about insisting on a degree to join the police means that you start to chip away at some of the diverse makeup of the organisation.

“It’s been demonstrated statistically that you will exclude individuals from certain backgrounds, maybe individuals from certain socio-economic groups, and we are led to believe that this will also have a negative impact on the number of black and ethnic minority officers recruited into the organisation as well.”