Welcome to your Professional Policing course - University of Staffordshire

Hello Future Police Officer! Welcome to your Professional Policing course at Staffordshire University. Starting university can be both exciting and a little daunting, but you will have a team of dedicated lecturers to help you settle in. We have put together this webpage to help you prepare for your exciting new course at University. We will cover everything when you arrive, but there are some things you can do to get a head start on preparing for your course and to help you make the most of your first week. If you do need anything, your course leader is only an email away. We are really looking forward to you joining us in September and we are here to help you every step of the way!

Your staff team

We want to make sure you know some of our team before you arrive. Hopefully this will help you recognise us and ensure you know who you can contact if you need any additional help and guidance.

Dr Lauren Metcalfe

Course Director

Lauren completed her PhD in Evidence Based Policing and joined Staffordshire University in 2017. She is now Course Leader for Professional Policing (our Pre-join degree) and Course Director for our policing degrees.

Lauren's profile

Sarah Watson

Senior Lecturer

Sarah Watson is a Senior lecturer in Policing with an academic background with an interest in crime and human behaviors. And currently Undertaking a PhD that explores mass shooting incidents across Europe.

Sarah's profile

Dr Leanne Savigar-Shaw

Senior Lecturer

I am a Lecturer in Policing with an academic and research background. I have been involved in a number of research projects focusing on mobile phone use by drivers, police legitimacy and procedural justice.

Leanne's profile

Justin Mason-Spanner

Lecturer

I spent 30 years in the Police completing my service as a nationally trained and accredited Senior Investigating Officer, managing murder investigations. I use my knowledge and experience to deliver modules within the course.

Justin's profile

John De-Hayes

Lecturer

I am part of the Policing team and I lecture on the Professional Policing and Policing & Criminal Investigations programmes. I am the Module Leader for Policing in a Digital Age, Cybercrime and Roads Policing modules.

John's profile

Lee Crowther

Lecturer

Sean Phillips

Lecturer

First activity

During Welcome Week you will meet your Course Leader, your lecturers and your new course mates. We will go through your timetable with you, explain what you will cover during the first year of your degree and outline what extra-curricular activities you can get involved in.

Foundation Year semester one activities

Are you studying Professional Policing with a Foundation year?

Your Foundation Year provides a wonderful opportunity to develop the skills needed for the successful completion of your degree. The topic areas covered include an introduction to academic study skills, as well as an introduction to critical thinking and argument. You will also study Theories of Criminality and the Sociology of Crime, enabling you to contextualise crime through the application of the law to a range of case studies and developing practical skills in Criminal Justice.

Course Delivery

Professional Policing is a popular course typically attracting 20 to 50 students per academic year. The College of Policing, who are the professional body for policing in England & Wales, have introduced the Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) to provide a standardised national framework that sets education qualification levels in the Police Service. In effect, implementation of the PEQF makes the service a graduate entry profession and from 2020 all newly appointed police constables will have to be graduates or enrolled onto an apprenticeship programme.

Although constructed specifically for the role of Police Constable, the BSc (Hons) Professional Policing is also of value to those interested in other branches of law enforcement and who are considering pursuing a career in the wider criminal justice sector. The course provides a vocational as well as an academic understanding of the criminal justice sector and provides an excellent foundation for your studies at level 5 and 6.

Your course is taught on the stoke campus. There will be a mixture of lectures and small group work. You will undertake learning in the new immersive simulation suite, and practical sessions such as stop and search, using radios and body worn video (BWV) cameras.

Before You Arrive

There are lots of online resources that are relevant to Professional Policing that you can access before you arrive on campus. Hear are just a few to get you started:

How does policing work in the UK? Find out here

Hear about the current issues in Policing from Police Commander

Watch the presentations from the 2020 Online Society of Evidence Based Policing

Listen to our CrimeTapes Podcast

We also recommend the following films, documentaries and books that cover policing themes:

TV/You Tube

BBC documentary: Stephen: The murder that changed a nation
How to Catch a Serial Killer – Documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald
The Rachel Nickell Story
Apple Tree Yard
BBC Documentary of Hillsborough

Books

Catching a Serial Killer – Stephen Fulcher
Napper Through a Glass Darkly – Alan Jackaman
And Still I Rise – Doreen Lawrence

Before You Arrive - Foundation Year

There are lots of online resources that are relevant to Professional Policing that you can access before you arrive on campus. Here are just a few to get you started:

How does policing work in the UK? Find out here

Hear about the current issues in Policing from Police Commander

Listen to our CrimeTapes Podcast

Listen to the Centre for Crime and Justice Podcast

TV Documentaries

Catching a killer:- The search for Natalie Hemming

Murder in the outback

OJ: Made in America

YouTube

Inside the Court of Appeal

Crime Scenes Scotland Forensics Squad

OJ Simpson: the Untold Story

Films

12 Angry Men (1957)

A couple of suggestions for books you may want to read

The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How it's Broken, by an anonymous author

Traces, by Professor Patricia Wiltshire

Under the Wig: A Lawyer's Stories of Murder, Guilt and Innocence, by William Clegg QC

Useful Websites

Crime Museum - information about forensic techniques and case studies

The Forensics Library - information on different types of forensic evidence and how it is collected and analysed, as well as information on how the crime scene is processed.

Groups and Societies

Being a member of a Student Society or Sports Team is a great way to meet other students and our Students' Union have a wide range of societies you can join. Students in the School of Justice, Security and Sustainability often join the following societies:

The Forensic and Crime Science Society

The Law Society

The Debating Society

Students' Union

Student Stories

You can read stories and watch videos about our current students and graduates on the JSS Blog and YouTube playlist

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Equipment and Software

There are a multitude of resources available online for students at Staffordshire University, such as Microsoft Office 365.

Software link: https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/software/SitePages/Home.aspx

Software for students

Academic skills

Whether you're joining us from school or college, or you're returning to education after some time away, everyone can benefit from the Academic Study Skills resources provided by the University library.

The Academic Skills team is here to support you throughout your academic journey and to help you gain the skills you need to reach your full potential. They can assist with academic reading and writing skills, give advice on how best to plan assignments, and help improve your time management.

The library's Academic Skills Guides offer the key information to make studying easier and give a comprehensive guide to the learning resources and services we offer.

Staffs CampusConnect

Staffs CampusConnect is our student-led community app for new students. Connect with other people from your course, hometown or country, and even those with similar interests.

To register, please ensure you use your Applicant ID (Student Number) that you received in your offer letter, and the email address you used in your application to us.

Register for CampusConnect

Welcome website

Our welcome website will provide you the link to your new student life. It's all about how you find your place at university, including everything from how to meet friends, feel confident in doing your academic work, being a member of your Student Union and getting involved in Union Societies, Academic Societies, Sports, Volunteering or representing your peers in your School.

Part of this Welcome Week - we have an exciting program of University and course level activities planned for you for your first week in September. We are also building an extended program for you to join a series of events throughout the first half of the autumn term. Further details will be shared with you via the Welcome website and Students' Union pages over the coming weeks.

Welcome website

Campus map

Use our campus map to familiarise yourself with our campus before you arrive.

Campus map (PDF)

Check your email

Please make sure you check your personal email account regularly over the next few weeks. We will be sending you lots of information about Welcome Week.

we are really looking forward to welcoming you to our campus in September. If you have any questions in the meantime, please get in touch with your Course Leader, Sarah Watson on Sarah.Watson@staffs.ac.uk