Graduate bobbies on the way, says professor

POLICE officers could be required to have university degrees in the future, a Leeds University academic has predicted.

By The Newsroom Monday, 20th January 2014, 12:01 am

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Professor of criminology Adam Crawford said Britain could follow other European countries in expecting its officers to be formally qualified.

“It wouldn’t be out of keeping with some of our European partners, who require police to be graduates,” he said. “The British police service has a very different tradition and history to our neighbours.

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“But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s further down the road, if – in five to 10 years – police officers would have degrees or some more formal form of training.”

Prof Crawford is one of the leading academics involved in a project run by the College of Policing to improve the use of research in crime-fighting. The college has awarded £50,000 to a partnership of eight northern universities, led by Leeds, to strengthen links between forces and academic institutions.

Police officers do not currently need to have formal qualifications, although their command of English, ability to think logically and handling of numbers are tested.

However, Prof Crawford said there was a drive to make the service more professional in line with other public roles.

The College of Policing, which aims to raise the professional status of officers and staff, said there were no plans for a formal degree in policing.