Scholarships for people of colour on policing course

Opportunities for people of colour in specialist policing roles – including counter-terrorism – are being made available thanks to a partnership involving Liverpool John Moores University.

Scholarships for police officers and policing staff seeking a career in covert investigations and intelligence have been made available for people of colour on a specialist course run by The Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing at LJMU (LCAPS).

The focus is on the development and retention of staff in national units including the National Crime Agency and UK Counter-Terrorism Policing.

It is the latest in a series of unique courses run nationally by police forces in tandem with LJMU and complements the university’s core values of community and inclusivity.

'Excel in my career'

The new scholarships are aimed at people of colour but follow on from a wider push to recruit to covert policing roles under the banner Project Harpocrates.

Last year police staff from Nottinghamshire Police, West Midlands Police and British Transport Police were awarded scholarships to study on the LJMU Covert Investigation and Specialist Intelligence course.

One of the successful scholars, a serving Detective Constable with Nottinghamshire Police said: "I come from a non-covert police background; but I feel confident that this course will give me the ability to excel in my career and to take a seat at the table for covert investigations.”

Dr Carol Cox, the Head of Policing at LCAPS, said, “Diversity within policing is crucial to ensure we maintain public satisfaction and confidence, and allow all communities to feel supported and safe. This degree fits within the ethos of recognising the police service as a profession, with education and practical expertise at its core. I am very proud of the students’ performance, the staff who continue to work on this programme and the support they give to the students.”

The programme can be studied at postgraduate certificate, diploma and MSc levels and is taught by distance learning on a part-time basis.

Dr Ian Stanier, who leads on the Covert Intelligence and Specialist Intelligence programme, said: “Successful deployment of covert tactics is critical in the UK’s efforts to tackle serious organised crime and terrorism. Diversity is widely seen as a means of improving police public relations, promoting crime control, impacting on crime rates and improving operational effectiveness.”  

The next course entry commences September 2021 with a second entry on January 2022. For more details, contact Dr Ian Stanier, via I.P.Stanier@ljmu.ac.uk