Designing a graduate entry route for police recruits: lessons from a rapid evidence assessment of other professions

Abstract

Policing in the UK is currently undergoing changes to the training and attained qualifications of entry level police officers. The College of Policing is in the process of developing three entry routes into the profession, one of which is a graduate conversion course for those new recruits who hold, at a minimum, a Bachelor's degree. The objective of this research was to gather evidence on existing conversion courses to inform the development of this route. A rapid evidence assessment was undertaken to a narrative synthesis of the literature on graduate conversion courses in other professions. Fifty-one studies were identified and coded. Four main themes emerged from the available evidence as being central. These themes-learning styles, translating theory into practice, teaching methods and assessment were cross cut by pedagogical sub-themes of collaborative learning, and reflective practice. Policy and practice implications for a policing conversion course are drawn out to guide development and delivery of police training and education in the 21 st century.

Police education and role play: Insights from the literature

“…It also provides a solid platform where students can utilise their knowledge, which has been acquired from the process of reflection. This supports the earlier findings of Belur et al (2018), with regard to the necessity for students to have the opportunity to link theory to practice.…”

“…Therefore, police training must be as realistic as possible to ensure these skills are appropriately learnt. This reinforces the argument presented earlier by Belur et al (2018) where students need to have the opportunity, to place theory into practice.…”

“…At this point, the student will be able to apply context to learning, which was an important aspect highlighted within Neyroud's Review of police educational reform (Neyroud, 2011). This approach in linking theory to practice is also reinforced by Belur et al (2018), who argued that the link between the two concepts was vital in providing a foundation for reflection.…”

Understanding what works in the police management of child sex offenders in the community

“…First, a REA is not a full systematic literature review, differing in the scope and depth of the searches, and is not accompanied by searching specific journals, or policy and practice documents. However, REA’s have been widely used in recent years on a wide range of policy relevant issues (Belur et al, 2018; Gekoski et al, 2016). Second, the searches depended exclusively on electronic databases and were not accompanied by searching books, literature reviews, investigations, Parliamentary Inquiries, Royal Commissions, policy and practice documents or other documents that may have contributed to the breadth of evidence considered and critical appraisal thereof.…”

Critical Reflection: The Importance of Case Reviews and Reflective Practice in Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Investigations

“…Pedagogical police training programmes have been found to lack clearly articulated aims and consistent evaluation approaches (Belur et al, 2020a), as well as agreement on what the resultant officer capabilities or professional behaviours might be (McGinley et al, 2019). This creates a learning environment where the planning, delivery, and evaluation of functional and pedagogical change is often lacking (Belur et al, 2020b;Fyfe, 2019). This moderates the effect of both formal learning and creates a learning environment which often delivers content with little understanding of its intended or actual effect.…”