A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Pre- and Post-Employment Modes of Higher Education for Student Police Officers

Abstract

Several police services have aligned themselves in a variety of modes with higher education (HE) since 2005 as part of the localisation of the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP). The two main modes for delivering HE are analysed and compared. The concept of the reflective practitioner, how this might be achieved and the effectiveness of reflective practice will be used to compare the effectiveness of the two modes of delivery. One important aspiration of the modern police service is to reflect fully the constituency and communities that each service represents. The application of HE delivery modes to police recruitment may seem to threaten meeting these equal opportunity aspirations; the validity of such assumptions will be considered.