New police recruits at Leicestershire Constabulary will train at De Montfort University (DMU) as part of the new police training programme.

Leicestershire Constabulary is working with DMU and local community groups to deliver the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP).

The first group of recruits, known as 'student officers', will begin in July.

The programme will cover core competencies such as criminal justice, equality and diversity, human rights, communication and leadership.

They will spend the first 23 weeks of their two-year probationary period at DMU's Leicester city campus. Following a further 10-12 week community placement, assessors will decide if student officers are ready for independent patrol.

Once independent patrol is attained the programme will switch to distance learning, managed by newly formed Area Professional Development Units.

DMU's 'Involve' student volunteering unit will arrange community placements for the officers, who will spend one day each week volunteering in a local not for profit organisation.

Head of Learning and Development for Leicestershire Constabulary, Chief Superintendent Nick Gargan, said: 'The introduction of the IPLDP marks another step forward in the professionalisation of policing.

'The end result of this new approach to learning and development will be student officers who have trained in the heart of the community, with input from key community stakeholders, which will assist them in providing a second to none policing service to the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.'

Annette Crisp, Programme Leader at DMU, said: 'This initiative brings together knowledge, theory and work-based experience to provide a professional education and training programme which will better equip officers with the skills they need.'

In addition to professional qualification, student officers who successfully complete the IPLDP will also gain a Foundation Degree in Policing from DMU.

The IPLDP replaces a national training programme and will modernise police training across the country, further ensuring that officers' skills and experience closely match policing in their local area.

It has been developed after the Home Office passed responsibility for probationer training to individual forces and in response to recommendations made by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in 2002.

The IPLDP will initially run alongside the current probationer training programme. There will be four intakes of approximately 30 student officers each year.

That's what I'm studying now at College, all included in my course!


Hmmm, another 'trial' that'll spread to other forces, poor things, being called 'student officers'

I'm already doing a degree (from September) in Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies, please tell me I'm not going to have to study it all again as part of this cr*p scheme.

It's part of the national curriculum for probationer training, no different just because they are training in a university

Oh good.

Look on the bright side you will be able to paint eyes on your eyelids and have a sleep during those lessons and still pass with flying colours

What a joke, was talikne to "student guards" (trainees) on their placement in stations and they said now they have to do community placements! One lad said he got spat in the face wile working in a homeless day centre.

In my day we were trained in how to be cops not social workers, last time I checked that was a whole different course