POLICING needs to be able to rise to the challenges of the future \u2013 and police degrees are the way to achieve that, Brandon Lewis told the Police Federation Annual Conference.<\/p>\n
The Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service told the conference in Birmingham: \u201cThe police officer in any community-based meeting is often the only person in the room whose profession doesn\u2019t requires a degree-level qualification.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd yet that police officer is often chairing or leading that partnership meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cTo those who say this isn\u2019t a graduate job, I would say that policing needs to be able to rise to the challenges of the future. And the Police Education and Qualification Framework aims to give officers access to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed and to fight crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
The College of Policing has also said that all entrants to the service must be educated to degree-level in the future.<\/p>\n
Reiterating the Conservative Party\u2019s backing of graduate qualifications for police officers, Mr Lewis added: \u201cGraduate-level skills and attributes are already being demonstrated on a daily basis by members of service up and down the country and that will become increasingly important.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not about one size fits all; it is great to see a variety of entry routes into policing as a career. But there is more to do \u2013 whether as a rejoining policing degree or graduate recruit or on the completion of a graduate apprenticeship, these aren\u2019t just about getting people with degrees into policing, they are about making sure you are given the skills to do the job in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Labour\u2019s Yvette Cooper said apprenticeships should be introduced into policing to ensure the service truly reflects the public it serves.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI welcome the work of the College of Policing and we need training throughout police officers\u2019 careers. But I think it would be a shameful narrowing if policing only took from those who had already done a graduate degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we should have an apprenticeship for policing as a new route in whatever people\u2019s backgrounds to make sure it reflects the skills and talents of the whole country and population.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"