MPS Crime Academy

Report: 11
Date: 27 March 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

At the informal session of the MPA’s Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 7 March, the Chair of the Authority asked that a paper on the proposed MPS Crime Academy be provided for the information of Members before the formal launch of the Crime Academy. This paper is designed to fulfil that requirement.

A. Recommendations

That this report be noted.

B. Supporting information

1. The Commissioner and the Chair of the Authority will formally launch the concept of the Crime Academy on Monday 31 March 2003 at the Hendon Training School. This paper is intended to give Members a better understanding of the concept of a Crime Academy for the MPS.

Rationale

2. A major focus for the MPS quite rightly remains crime reduction and public safety. This has been reflected in recent organisational change, particularly in the establishment of a Directorate led by an Assistant Commissioner whose sole responsibility is tackling specialist crime. Policing is becoming increasingly more professional and intelligence-led with major emphasis on the use of forensics. Recent experience has shown that this professionalism needs to be continued through case preparation and into the courtroom. Closer co-operation with our Criminal Justice System partners to improve efficiency, effectiveness and public confidence is essential. Recent cases have also shown the importance of partnership working with other agencies such as local authority social services.

3. Investigative training in the MPS has been neglected over a number of years. The legacy of having no detective training for some time is still impacting on the service with large numbers requiring training and officers being appointed to senior detective posts with no previous detective experience. The dangers of having inexperienced police officers in charge of critical investigations are clear. At the moment the Detective Training School has to deliver training in such quantity that quality may suffer; this needs to be addressed.

4. At present, teams of trainers in different parts of the MPS provide different types of investigative training. Some of the courses are ‘stand alone’ with no co-ordination with investigative training delivered in other parts of the MPS. The Crime Academy provides the potential to create a coordinated approach to investigative training. This would include initial investigation at the scene of a crime through to presenting evidence in court, including all forms of specialist investigation. There is clear potential to reduce duplication and achieve savings from economies of scale.

5. Whilst much MPS investigative training is highly regarded e.g. the Scientific Support College courses where scene examiners and fingerprint examiners are trained, with limited capacity for course research and development, the courses run by the Detective Training School, for example, cannot incorporate cutting edge developments such as those being researched by the Jill Dando Institute. Limited increases in resources and savings from effective coordination of training can make the courses provided by the Crime Academy potentially world class.

6. Ironically the brand ‘Scotland Yard Detective’ is world famous and synonymous with excellence. Much of this reputation is built on skills and experience that are not formally trained but are passed on from detective to detective in the workplace. With the dilution of the CID by level transfer from uniform at senior levels, the loss of experienced detectives to NCIS and NCS, and with many officers approaching thirty years service and hence retirement, there is a danger that the reality upon which the ‘Scotland Yard’ reputation is built may be lost. The Crime Academy provides the potential to capture this knowledge and experience and incorporate ‘best practice’ into Crime Academy courses.

7. With the emphasis on visible, locally-based policing, the skills of the relatively smaller proportion of detectives needs to be enhanced to improve their effectiveness; they will be called upon to do more with a smaller proportion of the strength. The pressures to deliver around counter-terrorism and serious crime in addition to volume crime have never been greater. The need to increase the investigative capacity of Specialist Operations and Specialist Crime has never been greater. By having a series of carefully coordinated investigative training courses delivered by the Crime Academy, the skills, knowledge and reputation of detectives can be restored and developed further.

8. It is this combination of previous neglect, the fragmented approach to detective training, the limited ability to conduct research and development, the real danger of skills and knowledge loss, the requirement for more effective detectives, all set against the world renown reputation of the ‘Scotland Yard detective’ that make the case for the Crime Academy compelling. This is not a re-labelling exercise but potentially a radical overhaul of investigative training.

Initial steps

9. The MPS Management Board, key stakeholders within the MPS and the Chair of the MPA Human Resources Committee have considered a scoping study produced by Assistant Commissioner, Specialist Crime with consultancy support. The results of the consultation process have been incorporated into the plans.

10. Three options were initially considered: the Crime Academy to deliver specialist crime training only, to start with Specialist Crime training and gradually expand into other areas of investigative training or to include all aspects of investigative training from the start. There was almost unanimous support for an inclusive approach. As a result, one of the first steps will be to bring the Detective Training School into the Specialist Crime Directorate.

11. This approach is consistent with other MPS specialist training such as Public Order Training (housed within Territorial Policing) and Firearms Training (based in Specialist Operations). Experience has shown this approach successfully enables the strategic integration of training and development, the management of organisational knowledge and the ownership of skills by specialist practitioners. Initially the Detective Training School and Scientific Support College will be brought under the same line command within the Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) and given a distinct new identity, the Crime Academy. The name has been debated both internally and externally with numerous alternatives being suggested. Whilst not having universal appeal, the name ‘Crime Academy’ has majority support amongst the alternatives proposed.

12. The existing training establishments will continue to operate at their current locations. The resources currently allocated to the Detective Training School within the MPS HR Directorate will transfer over to SCD once the SCD support structures are in place.

13. A project team under the leadership of Detective Chief Superintendent John Bates will look at the many and various investigative training courses delivered within the various parts of the MPS and will put forward recommendations for the co-ordination and rationalisation of investigative training. Initially this is likely to involve investigative training being delivered within existing resources and buildings but with modifications to content. The emphasis will be on the delivery of effective training that impacts positively on business delivery with minimum abstraction from operational duty.

14. The project team will take full account of the Best Value Review of Training. In particular, the Director of Training and Development’s role as Head of Profession will extend to cover the Crime Academy. A cross-directorate Management Board will decide the work of the Crime Academy. Existing courses will be reviewed and new courses provided on the basis of business need and training needs analyses.

15. Full account will be taken of the work of the PSSO and the NCPE in the design and delivery of courses. The ACPO work on the Professionalisation of Investigation and the implementation of the National Intelligence Model will also be major influences. The establishment of the Crime Academy is not about reinventing the wheel; it is about close relationships with national bodies to ensure the MPS is at the forefront of training delivery.

Future considerations

16. In addition to delivering existing training more effectively and efficiently, the Crime Academy concept will be used as the vehicle to deliver improved and new courses.

17. Enhancements to existing courses will come from the capture of innovative best practice, which is being constantly developed by MPS detectives, particularly in those areas where the MPS is the leader both nationally and internationally e.g. the investigation of murder and kidnap.

18. The Crime Academy will seek to develop links with academic institutions that are at the cutting edge of evidence-based practice in such areas as community-based problem solving approaches to crime reduction and offender profiling. Such links will serve to make course content the most up-to-date available and to enable the academic accreditation of courses.

19. Gaps in existing training will be identified and new courses developed to ensure effective business delivery. Training in the successful presentation of cases at court, from best practice around case file preparation to being an effective witness, is an example of new training that a performance needs analysis is likely to confirm as a requirement for the new Crime Academy.

20. Existing legislation already enables civilian investigators with limited powers to be employed by Forces. Future pressure on the limited police detective skills base may lead to further legislative changes enabling direct recruitment of specialists (such as accountants and auditors) into the police service as ‘sworn officers’. The Crime Academy will provide the vehicle for at least some of the training for these investigators.

21. Future demands on resources, accommodation and staffing are difficult to predict. The approach is an incremental one. Expansion from the initial remit of the Crime Academy, where impact on resources is likely to be limited, and the consequent resource demands can be considered as the concept is developed.

Conclusions

22. The concept of the Crime Academy as a vehicle for the rationalisation and co-ordination of investigative training in the MPS is compelling. It will provide a sharper performance focus to meet the needs of the MPS. At least initially the Crime Academy will be a ‘virtual’ one with training delivered within existing resources and accommodation.

23. The concept also provides exciting potential for the enhancement of existing training and a co-ordinated approach to the provision of new training to meet identified performance needs.

24. Members will be kept up-to-date with developments as the concept is developed. In the meantime, members are invited to note the paper.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The project team will pay particular attention to the previous under representation of visible ethnic minority officers and women amongst investigators and ensure those strategies that have been put in place continue to be addressed. There are no other implications identified at this stage of development but any that emerge will be fully considered by the project team as and when they arise to ensure the requirements of the MPS Race Equality scheme are fulfilled.

D. Financial implications

There are no major financial implications in terms of additional resource requirements identified at this stage. Clearly any expansion predicated on the back of income generation will need detailed research into the market potential before this is progressed.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Brian Paddick, Commander SCD3.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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