At Edge Hill, our degree in Professional Policing is taught by a team of staff who are armed with academic knowledge, research interests and areas of specialism. But training students to work in the police force also requires real-world experience – and our team of lecturers bring plenty of that into their teaching.
Karen Cummings, Senior Lecturer in Policing, brings 30 years of experience from a variety of policing and crime roles to the team at Edge Hill. She met with us to chat about how gaining real-world experience is so important for students training to become Policing professionals.
“One of the first things that we teach first year students is how to respond to a crime scene. Response Policing is a first-year module that is designed to explore the key fundamental functions of police response and it’s important that students are taught about the policies and legislation that underpins response policing – but ultimately, responding to a crime scene is best taught on a practical basis.
“To allow students to immerse themselves in a true to life situation, we replicate real-world crime scenes in our on-campus Police Training and Simulation Facility. Setting up a simulated burglary situation in the Crime House, bringing the students in, and asking them ‘what are you going to do?’ really allows them to problem-solve on a practical level. Putting theory into practice from early in the programme makes a big difference to our students’ learning, and students really enjoy their lessons in the Crime House.
“As well as being able to take a practical approach to teaching using simulations of real-life police work, I also bring my experience into classroom-based learning to help students put their theoretical learning into context. I lead on the first year module, Public Protection, Vulnerability and Risk, an important module that covers a range of topics aimed at protecting the most vulnerable victims in society.
“When working in the police force, dealing with situations of suspected child abuse always requires a collaborative approach from professionals across education, health care, social services and law professionals. To demonstrate the importance of collaborative working, the team has worked with colleagues across the University to produce a feature film replicating a true scenario experienced as a Police Officer.
“The film focused on an instance of suspected child abuse, and followed the perspective of the medical professionals, reporting their concerns to the police and duty social services team; the involvement of teachers in the child protection case conference; and, lawyers, in representing the offender during police interviews and at Crown Court. These parts were played by colleagues from the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, and the Law team – who all brought their professional knowledge and skills with them to the role.
Studying BSc (Hons) Professional Policing at Edge Hill means you’ll be taught by professionals like Karen. Alongside their academic qualifications, our Policing team bring with them a range of experience, ranging from Detective Chief Superintendents to Criminal Intelligence Analysts and Detective Chief Inspectors.
May 10, 2022
