University of Teesside - CSI: Teesside

Sep 14 2006 North East Vision

A visitor to the University of Teesside's campus may be surprised to see so many police officers. This doesn't mean the university is beset by a crime wave.

They are all students on a foundation degree in police studies, inaugurated in September 2004. The two-year programme is a partnership between the university and Cleveland Police.

The foundation degree is one example of how the university is becoming a leading player in the training of crime-fighting professionals.

Its diverse courses include a foundation degree in police studies, first degrees and Master's in forensic investigation, criminal investigation and crime scene science and a Master's programme in fraud management.

These initiatives, delivered collaboratively across the university's schools, demonstrate how academic partnership can benefit the region.

Vice chancellor Prof Graham Henderson said: "Teesside has a vast portfolio of criminal and forensic investigation provision and we have been national leaders in the development of courses in these areas for over 20 years, with, for instance, being the first providers of criminology and crime scene science degrees.

"We also pioneered the foundation degree in policing with Cleveland Police and expanded this programme to the West Midlands through our partnership with West Mercia Police. Other forces are actively interested in developing this award with us.

"Our Teesside Business School is a major centre for researching fraud management and we are a major centre for investigating cyber-crime. We also have, in our School of Social Sciences & Law, Professor Jill Radford, one of the leading British experts on domestic violence.

"So we have a wealth of expertise in the university and what I want is to maximise people's awareness of the breadth and depth of our activities in criminal and forensic investigation at Teesside.

"There are huge opportunities here to make Teesside one of the leading centres for this work in the country. In order to achieve this, we have established a new Institute for Criminal and Forensic Investigation.

This will link together expertise from different university schools to meet the rapidly changing needs of the forensic, law enforcement and emergency services."

The foundation degree students are employed as Cleveland Police officers from day one and spend their first year in university.

During their second year, the trainee officers are "on the beat" but return to the university for several weeks. By this summer, Cleveland Police had 150 student officers on the course, with the first cohort due to graduate in November.

The programme was devised in response to the Government's reform of policing. It develops the students as individuals, equipping them with professional skills as future police officers and academic skills as undergraduates.

Classroom work links with the outside world, one example being the students' examination of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace). Police law trainers tell the students how they can use the Act and university lecturers describe its history, putting the Act into context.

The students then enact scenarios related to Pace through role play around the university, including the crime scene laboratory and mock courtroom. The students then have a debrief with discussion about these events. Students acquire other skills which will be invaluable to them as police officers, such as ICT, writing, and critical thinking.

By last April, the university had signed a contract to offer this training to West Mercia Constabulary in the Midlands. The West Mercia foundation degree differs slightly in content, reflected in its title, the foundation degree in professional policing. The forces' needs are slightly different, as Cleveland Police is urban and West Mercia more rural. The course content has therefore been tailored towards these locations.

The degree is taught jointly by academic and police training staff. West Mercia currently has 40 trainees on the foundation degree course and by January they will number 120.

The university's courses and training are not only aimed at future police officers. Teesside offers a range of forensic courses and has entered into another partnership with Cleveland Police to improve the knowledge of forensic science in the force.

Students on the undergraduate and Master's programmes in forensics and crime scene science use the crime scene laboratory on the campus.

The 16-room laboratory has CCTV in each of its rooms and is used to simulate various crimes, from break-ins to murders. It gives students and trainee police officers an opportunity to develop their practical skills in realistic conditions.

In addition to the crime scene laboratory, Teesside has its own Centre for Forensic Investigation, inaugurated last year. The centre co-ordinates all areas of forensic-related study, research and consultancy. It works with professional organisations such as the police, the fire service and other forensic science providers to organise staff exchange, collaborative research and the provision of undergraduate and postgraduate projects.

Experts from the centre are also instructing scientific support staff and other officers from Cleveland Police.

Under the agreement, development days are run with the Forensic Science Service and Centrex NTC, the national training centre for scientific support to crime investigation, which is based in Durham.

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Chancellor's lecture

The University of Teesside's Chancellor, Lord Sawyer of Darlington (left) will deliver the Annual Teesside Business School lecture at the university on November 9, from 6.45pm to 8pm.

It will be in the university's Innovation Centre Lecture theatre, off Stephenson Street, Middlesbrough.

A reception will be held from 5.30pm in Teesside Business School reception, second floor, Clarendon Building.

For more details please call (01642) 342002.