Wales to get Universities Police Science Institute

The Universities of Glamorgan and Cardiff are to establish a research-based Police Science Institute in partnership with South Wales Police.

The new Institute will be the first Russell Group (research-intensive universities’ association) University to join with a police force to develop training and research.

The agreement, expected to pave the way forward for similar schemes elsewhere, builds on many existing links between the universities and South Wales Police; in January 2006 the Initial Police Recruit Training will start at the University of Glamorgan, while police employees will begin the Masters of Public Administration (MPA) programme at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University.

Later in the year, the Universities Police Science Institute will encompass training from police probationer through to the existing BSc in Police Sciences at the University of Glamorgan. The principal objective of the new Institute will be to integrate police training, research and operations so that policing is further improved, benefiting the public, the criminal justice system and the police.

Discussions on how the Institute will develop include the potential for partners to develop a range of Continuing Professional Development courses, Masters degrees and doctorates. The Institute will also build on existing inter-disciplinary research based at Cardiff University such as evaluation of targeted policing projects; substance abuse; crime and disorder reduction initiatives; resettlement of short-term prisoners, and evaluation of CCTV.

Professor Jonathan Shepherd said the new Institute would work in similar ways to schools in the medical profession:” It takes police training into the research arena, providing a close partnership to develop solutions backed by scientific evidence.”

The scheme will have the potential to embrace police training and research throughout the whole of Wales and elsewhere, adding other partners where appropriate.

“This pioneering arrangement will benefit the communities and region served by South Wales Police and the two universities,” said Chief Constable Barbara Wilding. “Ultimately, it will result in a more highly-trained and effective police force.”

The Institute will soon be recruiting a Director with a view to the organisation being operational in the Autumn of 2006.