Last updated on September 19th, 2023 at 04:57 pm
Last updated on September 19th, 2023 at 04:57 pm
Reading Time: 2 minutesI’m sorry, I’m off again, but in my own defence it is a topic I feel very strongly about.
Today I was sparked off by a Tweet from West Yorks Federation, followed by a series of Tweets from a very unlikely ally
.@WYFedChair: "We have grave concerns over whether a degree course is appropriate in our modern society. I know loads of good police officers who are not academic – academia is not the only option." https://t.co/tLpldTJzTX
— West Yorks PolFed (@WestYorksPolFed) June 5, 2019
Key fact re degree entry into policing proposed options. In Lincs it would remove 40-60 Officers from frontline policing to implement & cost millions we don’t have. Do the public want it? Of course not! Yet we sleepwalk into it as if it was inevitable. IT’S NOT. #safertogether https://t.co/yGbF7fjNuu
— Marc Jones – Lincs PCC (personal account) (@MarcJonesLincs) June 6, 2019
What will implications be for existing Officers, Sgts and Special Constabulary?
What will impact be on recruitment from diverse backgrounds Forces serve & are underrepresented in?
What about recruitment of veterans?
List of questions remains and is shocking. #safertogether
— Marc Jones – Lincs PCC (personal account) (@MarcJonesLincs) June 6, 2019
Potential cops of tomorrow. That needs to be possible whether they desire a degree or not. The ideological fixation on degrees by some wll be the undoing of policing being of and for the community.https://t.co/K3Fuy94TgC
— Marc Jones – Lincs PCC (personal account) (@MarcJonesLincs) June 6, 2019
Some of the responses were equally interesting
https://twitter.com/chris_greany/status/1136551989096132609?s=21
Having spent decades trying to be more representative of communities we serve, it's undone almost overnight by a scheme that excludes huge swathes of the public. The usual suspects seduced by an idea opposed by so many. Recognise Officers by starting with those serving now.
— Rick Tyson (@dambury67) June 6, 2019
#Police #Degrees #CrisisInPolicing I work on a specialist #Policing unit of 1Sgt & 11 PC/DC’s.Only 1 has a degree.. is he any better than the rest of us! NOPE!Good life experiences & a mixture of upbringings & backgrounds is what makes British Policing! @CollegeofPolice @PFEW_HQ
— Happy Spurs Fan (@AnnoyedSpursFan) June 6, 2019
It should be available as AN option to Officers joining. It should not be THE option. The CoP have totally missed the goal with this and it’s going to cause even more recruitment then staffing problems than they have ever foreseen
— Rob (@rj_mcdonald) June 6, 2019
It would mean out of the 11 officers on my shift – only 1 would be employed now. What happened to recruiting from the community we police? Not everyone is an academic (including myself) yet we now expect them to get into a lot of debt for not a lot of salary
— PTSD Bobby (@PTSDBobby) June 6, 2019
and finally (but there have been many more)
https://twitter.com/thisismike1981/status/1136580807290687488?s=21
Apart from the arrogant insanity in enforcing Graduate or Apprenticeship entry routes only, what are they going to do about the 10s of thousands of perfectly adequate Police Officers currently serving without a degree?
There will be some commentators out there who will brand me Anti Degree/Graduate. I am most certainly not, I can see the benefits completely, but I am hugely Anti making them compulsory at point of entry. I have worked with Graduates and Non Graduates, some of each were good (most) and some were plainly awful. The most important factor I can think of is that one of the best (in my opinion) SIOs I ever had the privilege to work for would not be given a job as a PC under the new rules. Crazy.
According to the Office of National Statistics only 42% of the adult population had a degree in September 2017. If the Police are the Public and the Public are the Police why do we demand that 100% of Recruits either possess or attain a Degree?
Marc Jones makes a good point, what are the implications for serving officers who do not currently possess a Degree? Will they be required to obtain one or resign? Will serving officers without a Degree be automatically overlooked when selection processes are taking place for specialist roles or promotion?
Serving officers should be encouraged and assisted to obtain a Degree if they choose to. They should not however be held back if they do not. I spent my entire 30 year career as a Constable (by choice, not a failure to pass exams), I worked in a variety of specialist roles, was never turned down for anything merely because I didn’t have a Degree.
I can only ask the College of Policing to rethink this madness before further, irreparable, damage is done to a Police Service that is already battered and reeling.