POL5012 - Contemporary Policing

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
demonstrate an academic understanding of victimology, offending, tackling repeat offending and interventions for the vulnerable;
consider public protection from an individual and organisational stance;
describe internet-facilitated crime and be able to apply appropriate investigative procedures to such;
demonstrate an understanding of how terrorist acts link to other crime, and current counter terrorism approaches to counter those.

Content:

This module addresses 4 distinct contemporary policing issues:

In respect of the vulnerable and those at risk, students will learn concepts and theories of how a person becomes a victim; theories about the onset of offending; the impact upon the offending curve of early intervention; what works in relation to tackling repeat victimization and repeat offending; the appropriateness of different approaches (by professionals and the police) in supporting or managing vulnerable people or people at risk of harm; the developing issue of youth gangs targeting vulnerable people, or people at risk of harm; and the psychological impact of abuse on victims;

In respect of matters of public protection, students will learn the effectiveness of current public protection practices in investigating public protection incidents; how personal attitudes, values and biases can impact on a public protection investigation; the role and impact of MAPPA and the use of community intelligence in managing offenders; and the effect of media coverage on public protection policing strategy.

In respect of digital crime, students will learn about complex types of internet-facilitated crimes and their impact; appropriate investigative procedures for internet-facilitated crimes; and how to access specialist assistance in obtaining information from a specialist or service provider in the recovery of digital data.

In relation to terrorism, students will learn the organisational structures and inter-relationships that exist in counter-terrorism policing; the potential links between terrorism and other forms of criminality; and the potential for an insider threat within the police service and strategies to prevent this.

Learning and Teaching Information:

It is anticipated that 10 hours will be given to didactic inputs preferably to the whole cohort.

It is intended that the large cohort will then be split into smaller groups of students. This will allow for more discussion-orientated teaching, facilitation and reflection.

Students will be provided with resources and instructions as to their self-directed learning.

Lectures
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Small group teaching
Hours: 39
Intended Group Size: 26

Guided independent study
Hours: 151

Further details relating to assessment
Students are required to submit a 3000-word essay on one of the contemporary policing areas (vulnerability and risk, public protection, digital policing or counter terrorism) demonstrating an understanding of the nature of the area supported with academic theory to show how crime, victims and offending manifests itself. They are also required to produce tutorial summaries for the other three contemporary policing areas to demonstrate participation, engagement and learning across the module.

Assessment:

Fact File

Module Coordinator - PRS_CODE=
Level - 5
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - N/A
Semester(s) Offered - 5WP415WP425WP245WP45

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