“Policing is about bravery, working under pressure, and dealing with conflict. These are skills that cannot be obtained through education alone…”
Cheshire Police Federation Chair Jamie Thompson has added his view to the debate on whether all police officers should require a degree to do the job.
Jamie said: “British policing is built on a bedrock of representing the communities we serve. To demand that all applicants have a degree will mean we lose out on recruiting some brilliant potential officers.
“Policing is about more than just education. At times it is about bravery, working under pressure, and dealing with conflict. These are skills that cannot be obtained through education alone.
“To place so much emphasis on educational requirements will mean we miss out on those with the life skills gained from former avenues of employment.”
The College of Policing wants all recruits to gain a degree before joining the force – or to gain one on the job.
Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones – soon to be the new PCC head – has urged Home Secretary Priti Patel to scrap plans for graduate-only police recruits and says ex-soldiers will be better than university leavers with ‘expressive dance’ degrees.
His comments come after Nick Adderley, Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Constabulary, criticised the all-graduate recruit plans.
CC Adderley said police recruits joining after university are not prepared to work nights or weekends and are ‘sadly lacking’ in life experience.
Bernie O’Reilly, interim CEO of the College of Policing, said: ‘Policing has changed significantly in recent years and the new training has been created to reflect the challenges officers face and recognise the complex nature of the job.
‘The public deserves highly trained, highly skilled officers that can protect them from all crime types, from domestic violence and digital fraud, through to organised crime and modern slavery, as well as protecting vulnerable people.”
The College of Policing added that the new training scheme had already been adopted by 33 forces.
