Crime Academy

Report: 9
Date: 22 July 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This paper provides an update on the developments within the Crime Academy since it was opened on 31 March 2003.

A. Recommendation

That members note this report.

B. Supporting information

Background and developments

1. The Crime Academy (SCD 20) is part of the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Directorate. As mentioned in a previous report to the MPA dated 27 March 2003 the Commissioner and the Chair of the Authority formally opened the Crime Academy on 31 March 2003.

2. The rationale underpinning the development of the Crime Academy is to ensure that all investigative training delivered within the metropolis is focused on helping our staff work professionally towards meeting the five key aims of ‘Towards the Safest City’.

3. The Crime Academy Vision, Aims and Key Objectives that support the five key aims are included in the Crime Academy Training Plan for 2004/2005.

4. As will be seen from the remainder of this report the Crime Academy now represents a significantly different training institution from the old style MPS investigative training schools and colleges. It is now well on its way towards achieving its vision:

‘To be the world leader for training investigators with the knowledge, skills and related specialist techniques to reduce crime and pursue and bring to justice those who break the law’.

5. The Crime Academy consists of the amalgamation of several of the previous MPS investigative skills schools or colleges and the development of capacity to deliver new courses to meet business need. Whilst positioned within the Specialist Crime Directorate the Academy has a responsibility for providing investigative skills training to the whole of the MPS.

6. There are currently 6 academic faculties within the Crime Academy:

• Investigative Faculty – core training for trainee investigators and detectives;
• Specialist Faculty – specialist training for officers, for example community safety, family liaison officer and financial investigator training;
• Forensic Faculty – fingerprint, photography, crime scene management, and exhibit officer training;
• Intelligence Faculty – RIPA, National Intelligence Model and analyst training;
• Senior Investigating Officers Faculty – training for detective sergeants, detective inspectors and senior investigating officers, this faculty also provides the MPS training for officers and support staff who make use of the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES); and
• Criminal Justice Faculty – investigative interviewing, advocacy, case paper preparation and disclosure of unused material training.

7. The Crime Academy are in the process of introducing an Anti Terrorism training capacity with a view to providing awareness training for all MPS staff. In addition, the current Intelligence Faculty will be expanding to include Covert Policing Training.

Training delivery

8. The MPS and the Crime Academy are committed to ensuring that our people have all the skills and knowledge to be able to perform at the very highest level. However, formal tutor led training is expensive both in terms of actual cost and in relation to abstractions from the normal work place. Therefore every opportunity must be taken to ensure that appropriate training is delivered to the right people at the right time and that any training delivered must be capable of, and effect a real improvement in workplace performance.

9. With these factors in mind the Crime Academy have recently introduced the following measures to improve the business effectiveness of our training delivery and to ensure that best practice within the MPS is identified and disseminated:

• A Research and Development Unit with the following responsibilities:
  • Management of the design of new courses and environmental scanning all of the Crime Academy training courses;
  • Introduction of a rolling programme of course re-evaluation to ensure that courses remain fit for purpose reflect occupational standards and effect improvements in the operational performance of the service, thus reflecting the business needs of the MPS;
  • Development of a ‘Virtual Academy’, working in partnership with the National Centre for Applied Learning, to provide a Managed Learning Environment or MLE. As well as having the capacity to identify individual officers training needs and develop their individual development plans, the MLE will also provide the platform for the management and delivery of a whole range of managed Blended Learning opportunities, such as E-Learning. Therefore the Crime Academy’s capacity to deliver training will be increased massively and the amount of time students will spend away from the workplace on formal tutor led training courses will be reduced; and
  • iv. Development of a Knowledge Database, this will include details of ‘Subject Matter Experts’ and a ‘Good Practice’ databases and will also involve the debriefing of officers to capture knowledge in those areas that the MPS are world leaders such as hostage negotiation, murders and other critical incidents. The Crime Academy Knowledge Database will eventually be incorporated into the Virtual Academy.
  • Increasing the number of students trained by 12.5%.

Links with academic institutions

10. One of the key strategic aims of the Crime Academy is ‘To maintain and expand links with academic institutions for the accreditation of training to improve standards and enhance the status of investigators’.

11. The Crime Scene Management courses were already accredited by Kings College London and this has ensured a high standard of training that is highly regarded by practitioners. To further develop high quality training that impacts upon performance in the workplace the Crime Academy has established links with various institutions to accredit our courses and promote our continual move towards evidence based training practice. Key work-streams within this area are:

• Development of a foundation degree with the University of Westminster and the Skills for Justice Council (previously the Police Skills and Standards Organisation) with funding by the Department for Education and Skills. This is a pilot as part of a longer-term intention to have all Crime Academy training accredited and for the award of investigative degrees at all levels. The Foundation Degree is to be based on the Detective Development Programme that is similar to the National Initial Crime Investigators Foundation Programme (ICIDP). However, the Crime Academy Foundation Degree represents a considerably updated version of the ICIDP and is based on a combination of self-learning, workplace assessment and tutor led training. The degree will take between 12 to 24 months to complete. The pilot commences in October 2004 and will be subject to continual monitoring and an evaluation after 12 months. It may be that after the pilot has been fully evaluated, the Crime Academy may approach a consortium of universities to further accredit and assist in the future development of academic awards;
• Accreditation of the Analysts Training Programme through the Open University and City and Guilds; and
• Development of the Centre for Excellence in Fraud and Financial Training; a partnership between the Metropolitan Police Service, the City of London Police Service and the Cass Business School (part of the City of London University) to provide and improve fraud training not only to police officers but also City Institutions. There is already considerable interest from various City Institutions in this project that could result in considerable income generation. Negotiations are currently underway to agree a contract between the three parties to this partnership to ensure that intellectual property rights are fully protected and to regulate and manage the training and finances.

12. In addition to these initiatives, negotiations are already underway regarding the potential for the Crime Academy to work with the Jill Dando Institute regarding a partnership towards future training in Crime Reduction and Offender Profiling.

Training developments

13. The Crime Academy is committed to a system of design and evaluation consistent with the Best Value Review of Training, MPS training policies and the Centrex publication ‘Models for Learning and Development in the Police Service’.

14. New courses are designed on the basis of evidence based performance needs analysis and existing courses are systematically assessed and re- evaluated by the Crime Academy to levels I and II of the Kirkpatrick model for course assessment to ensure that they remain ‘fit for purpose’.

15. The following courses are amongst those currently being developed as a result of identifying performance/training gaps:

• The Investigators Foundation Course and Detective Constables Course were in need of a fundamental review and much work has been done to ensure they fit the training needs of MPS detective constables. As a result of this the new Detective Foundation Course, part of the Crime Academy Foundation Degree Programme, further improvements will be made in partnership with the University of Westminster;
• As a result of an extensive performance needs analysis, the existing Senior Investigating Officers Course and Management of Serious Crime Course were found not to meet the training needs of newly promoted borough based Detective Inspectors, therefore a new Detective Inspectors Course is being designed to meet the needs of these officers, the course will be available from October 2004. With the introduction of this course there will be investigative training at every level from initial investigator through to senior investigating officer;
• An Advanced Investigative Interviewing Course is also being developed by the Crime Academy, which will be piloted in August. This course will fill the longstanding training gap for those investigators tasked with interviewing suspects in the most serious of cases. Prior to this course being developed officers requiring this training either had to attend training courses at other police training centres for example Kent Constabulary or the Greater Manchester Police at very high costs to the service (£2500- £3000) per course or go without the required training which has the potential of jeopardising investigations into serious and organised crime and potentially exposing the service to litigation;
• To improve performance regarding volume crime a Level II Investigative Interviewing Course is being designed that will be targeted at investigators is aimed at Territorial Policing Investigators to improve the standard of their interviewing techniques; and
• An Advanced Disclosure Course, aimed at the training needs of officers performing the role of disclosure officer in more serious or complex crimes.

16. A four year rolling programme of course review and evaluation is being developed to improve delivery outcomes, particularly performance in the workplace. Currently subject of review are ‘Advanced Exhibits Officers’, ‘Sexual Offence Investigative Techniques’ and ‘Community Safety Unit’ courses.

17. There have not been any requests for training of direct entrants (such as accountants) as ‘sworn officers’ made to the Crime Academy. However, many of our existing courses have the potential to be slightly re-designed to suit the needs of direct entrants, for example the financial investigators course, asset recovery course and exhibits officer courses.

18. The last of these courses has recently been the subject of a short redesign programme to meet the needs of Customs and Excise investigators and has resulted in significant income generation for the Crime Academy and MPS.

19. The Crime Academy is committed to achieving and maintaining the highest standards of professionalism with respect to equality and diversity. We have our own statement of purpose in relation to these vitally important issues and key objective number 6, that uses the term community in its’ widest sense, from our annual plan is:

‘To ensure the Crime Academy meets the diverse needs of the organisation and the community it serves’

20. As mentioned in our Training Plan 2004/05 it is our intention to introduce a panel of independent advisors this year to act as Crime Academy Equality and Diversity consultants to assist us in achieving this objective. This will include representation from London’s diverse communities.

21. Equality and Diversity are already constant themes that run through all of our training courses and course material. It is also important to add that some of the actual diversity and equality themes of our Community Safety Unit, Sexual Offence Investigative Techniques and Family Liaison Officers courses have been singled out for particularly high praise from organizations such as Centrex and various overseas police services such as the New York Police Department.

22. The Crime Academy are also currently able to provide (on request) modular versions of some of the more lengthy tutor led courses to promote greater access to our training services for part time workers. However, the introduction of the Crime Academy’s ‘Virtual Academy’ later this year will provide a far greater opportunity to provide effective high quality training to an even wider range of MPS employees.

23. The Virtual Academy will be the learning platform for a wide range of the Crime Academy’s’ ‘blended learning’ opportunities for MPS staff. By making full use of these E-Learning opportunities, traditional tutor led courses will be able to be reduced in length. In fact in some cases it may be possible for the entire training delivery of appropriate material to be completed on-line. Attendance on these shorter tutor led courses or on-line courses is more feasible for those MPS staff who have previously had difficulties in attending traditional courses, such as those individuals who have a responsibility for caring for children or elderly relatives.

Planning and management

24. A Programme Board chaired by Assistant Commissioner GHAFFUR oversees the governance and development of the Crime Academy. The Training Management Board chaired by the Deputy Commissioners has oversight of the annual training demands of the Crime Academy and other training establishments within the MPS.

25. To support the Annual Plan the Crime Academy Business Support Unit is currently in the process of preparing a Crime Academy Business Plan for the remainder of this financial year and for the year 2005/06. Clearly the growth in the MPS to 30,000 plus officers and additional police staff places an increasing demand on training and this will need to be met through a combination of improved training methods and equipment, more staff dedicated to providing training, additional accommodation such as part of Empress State Building with the overall costs being offset in part by income generation. Together these plans will predict and manage demands on resources, accommodation and staffing including an assessment of the Crime Academy’s income generation capabilities for the period.

26. Training is a necessary and expensive investment and that investment must be prioritised towards training for MPS business needs. The current Budget for the Crime Academy is £3.7 million per annum. This provides for a total establishment of 49 police officers and 30 members of police staff. However, there are significant opportunities for income generation to offset against existing costs, to increase staffing levels and improve the training facilities.

27. Since the launch of the Crime Academy, through leadership, there has been an increasing awareness of income generation opportunities and over the last financial year there was some improvement in relation to income generation. In this current year it is anticipated that the amount of income generation will increase significantly. The Academy has been successful in generating income by selling training courses to HM Customs & Excise, police from the United Arab Emirates and through the delivery of a range of financial investigations courses.

28. A partnership opportunity is being pursued with the Director of External Requirements at Centrex to deliver of training for a fee as part of the International Police Development Programme.

29. Future income generation will also be generated through the sale of places on the Crime Academy Foundation Degree Course and our new and rapidly expanding Investigators Development Seminar Programme.

30. Additionally, when the Virtual Academy is available on the Internet as opposed to merely being available on the MPS Aware system the potential for income generation from all over the world will be available to the Crime Academy by selling access rights to Blended Learning Opportunities (e.g. E-Learning courses) to other investigative agencies and police services. There has already been significant interest in this area of E-Learning from Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, America, Canada, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.

Whilst a considerable amount of any planned growth can and will be catered for through the Crime Academy’s potential income generation, continued and increased MPA/MPS support will also be required to improve our range of courses and training facilities and ensure that our key projects are carried through to successful completion.

Future challenges

32. The MPS will continue to face significant challenges to ensure its detective skills, abilities, resources and responses to crimes are professional, timely and effective to meet public demand, lead to crime reduction and to making ‘London the safest major city in the world’. In particular, these challenges include terrorism, response to the recommendations of the ‘Bichard Inquiry’, keeping up to date with evidential and legislative changes, developments in disclosure requirements, working within European and international legislation and improving the advocacy and detective skills of its officers to ensure the professional response whilst taking into account the considerable growth in new officers against the backdrop of experienced staff retiring over the next few years. It will be essential that the Crime Academy is adequately resourced to respond to these challenges and provide innovative and effective training delivery.

C. Race and equality impact

There are equality or diversity issues relating to training operational staff who interface with London’s diverse communities in the performance of their duties. These issues are addressed as part of the training process as described in paragraphs 19 to 23. Systems are in use to ensure equality monitoring of staff and trainees.

D. Financial implications

1. There are no direct resource or financial implications as a result of this paper. However, although the development of the ‘Virtual Academy’ is compatible with the Aware system and will not require any upgrade or investment, a significant increase in the use of the network may in the future require an increase in network bandwidth.

2. Whilst some growth can and will be catered for through income generation, continued and increased MPA/MPS support will also be required to improve our range of courses and training facilities and ensure that key projects are carried through to successful completion. These will be managed through the planning process and support will be sought when required through business cases. Requests for growth will be addressed within the overall MPS budget.

E. Background papers

Crime Academy Training Plan 2004/05

F. Contact details

Report author: Johns Bates, Director of Crime Academy SCD20 and Graham Deal, Research and Development Manager, Crime Academy SCD20

For more information contact:

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

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