Police and Policing (L4105A)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

This module will examine the topic of policing in contemporary British society. This will be accomplished, at first, through a historical exploration of how policing has evolved since the inception of the Metropolitan Police in 1829. Then we will move on to look at modern day policing through the analysis of relevant theories, practices and policy considerations.

There will be a focus on different types of approaches, contexts and situations, such as those relating to counter-terrorism, community, political protest, gender, and hate crime, amongst others. The police in the UK are more often than not thought of as a monolithic institution, thus how different policing practices shape media and public perceptions, and as a result how they affect political response, will also be explored.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.