Higher Education in Policing

We are interested in the relationships between higher education, uncertainty and the investigation of serious crime while acknowledging that there is 'higher education' and then there is 'higher' education. The investigation of serious crime has changed considerably, but having to deal with uncertainty is the one element that can be predicted with certainty. It is no coincidence that higher education has taken on more and more importance in the policing profession and this chapter will reveal some of the reasons for this without intending to take away from or diminish the importance of 'service developed and delivered' training. Indeed this chapter will argue that the contemporary investigation of serious crime needs a collaborative approach to both training and education with practitioners and researchers providing new approaches and innovative solutions to what are very difficult and complex problems, namely the investigation of serious crime in uncertain times. This chapter begins with a brief discussion of the development of police-specific higher education and explores the contribution higher education makes to policing. It briefly outlines how scientific breakthroughs and the quest for certainty have revolutionised policing, but also demonstrates how some of these certainties are illusory. The chapter then explores how higher education assists in the understanding and management of uncertainty in policing and demonstrates intersections with the ideas proposed in the other chapters in this book. We conclude by exploring uncertainty as an ally to policing and describing how the higher order skills provided by higher education become obvious in practice.