David studied a BSc in Policing alongside his role as a Police Officer in London. Studying gave David academic insight that he was able to feed into high-level strategy groups within the Police, and he went on to consult on public safety management. He now runs his own venture capitalist company and has completed an MBA.
I had been working as a police officer for 14 years when I decided to enrol on the BSc in Policing at Canterbury Christ Church University. I had always wanted a degree, but when I left school I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t engaged by studying.
When I came to study BSc Policing, there was so much change going on in policing as a profession, and the degree helped me understand and contextualise this, providing me with a level of understanding that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.
At the time, academic input into policing was still an emerging practice, and the degree opened my eyes into how much scope there was for evidence-based research to impact on policing policy.
Getting exposed to the history and politics of policing gave me a wider view of where the police sit within society, and as a result of completing the course I was asked to contribute to a number of different strategy groups.
The support I received from the tutors, in combination with the relevance of their professional and academic credentials was extraordinary. This cross section of experience meant being taught by people who used to do the same job as you, as well as people who are 100% academic yet still knowledgeable about the experience of a policing career. It shows that the University have really thought about who is best to deliver this course.
The course itself was very well-structured and designed to accommodate people who do a regular day job and/or have family lives. The standards of teaching were really high and made taking on the challenge of my subsequent MBA so much easier.
I was given the skills and time to develop academically, and I came away from the course feeling not only did I have value for money but value for my brain.
While the degree helped me in my profession at the time, ultimately higher education opened other doors for me as well. Having that initial degree allowed me to rebrand myself professionally and pursue new opportunities and identities outside of my original career.
After leaving the Police I moved into public safety management in Lagos, Nigeria, and later provided consultancy in that area, and now I run a venture capitalist investment company in Herefordshire.