Professional Policing, BA (Hons)

Police officers serve as first responders, investigators, and community partners, playing essential roles from constables to chief constables in a dynamic world. Policing involves high-stakes pursuits and meticulous investigations, offering a challenging yet rewarding career that demands dedication. Supported by academics with extensive law enforcement experience, this course blends theoretical knowledge with practical training, including opportunities for special constable roles, placements, and interactions with guest speakers, preparing students for modern policing demands.Over three years at NTU, students explore police powers, criminal justice, and digital policing, gaining hands-on skills through suspect interviews and our on-campus crime scene facility. Key modules span the evolution of policing, public protection, and community engagement, culminating in a research project. Assessments include coursework, written assignments, and practical evaluations, ensuring comprehensive preparation for this vital profession.

Throughout your three years with NTU, you'll combine learning about police powers and the criminal justice system, with hands-on experience as you learn to conduct suspect interviews, and get stuck into the forensics at our on-campus Crime Scene Training Facility. We'll provide the context of policing in the UK, the role of the police and what makes a modern police officer, alongside in-depth explorations of public protection and community policing. You'll also explore how law enforcement operates in the digital world for which you'll achieve associate membership of the Institute of Cyber and Digital Professionals (ICDP). Towards the end of your studies, you'll be able to apply your knowledge to a research project focusing on an area of policing that interests you. If you choose to become a special constable or volunteer with a local police force during your time with us, you can apply these experiences to your research project. In Year One key modules may include: The Role of the Police; Crime Investigation (One); Problem Solving and Decision Making; The Criminal Justice System; Criminology for Policing; and Police Powers (One). You will build upon the skills you learn in Year Two. Modules include: Public Protection; Evidence Based Policing; Crime Investigations (Two); Police Intelligence and Community Policing; and Police Powers (Two). Your Final Year modules will include: Digital Policing and Counter Terrorism; Front Line Policing; Police Powers (Three); and you have the choice to complete a Research Project or Applied Research Project.