Policing, Law and Investigation BSc (Hons) (Top-Up)

During the BSc Top-Up year, you will extend your skills and understanding of more specialist areas of policing and investigation. You will also have an opportunity to produce a dissertation, researching an area of policing that fascinates you.

MODULES

• Digital Crime - Investigation and Intelligence (20 Credits) Core: This module prepares you for a career in an investigative environment. The module aims to enable you to understand and identify legislative, ethical and professional considerations and demonstrate the application (through a case study) of the highly technical skills required when conducting digital crime investigation evaluating the relevant legislation, national policy and specialist support structures available to investigators and the support of vulnerable victims and witnesses. You will recognise and acknowledge community and business considerations when conducting digital crime investigations whilst keeping a balanced, professional and objective approach.
• Drugs and Alcohol (20 Credits) Core: This module aims to develop a critical evaluation of the effect drugs and alcohol abuse have on individuals and society in the United Kingdom (UK). You will apply sociological, historical, psychological, and cultural issues that influence the use of such substances and the political strategies to address the harm caused by both alcohol and controlled drugs. You will critically interpret the influence of the media and glamourisation. In addition, you will compare the effectiveness of the UK police and multi-agency approaches when compared to decriminalisation and rehabilitation approaches of other countries.
• Protection of Vulnerable Children and Adults (20 Credits) Core:  The aim of this module is to acquaint you with knowledge and understanding of the key issues and debates with regard to multi-agency working in the context of protecting vulnerable children and adults who become or are at risk of being victims of crime. During this module, key guidance and preventive models are discussed, which will lead to the recognition of what are the key issues that prevent effective multi-agency working and their impact on service delivery. This module will focus on all aspects of public protection in terms of how police manage criminal investigations and reduce the risks to the individual. Additionally, the prevention of risk towards the victim and how offenders are managed, identifying key issues, which you will need to analyse and evaluate in terms of multi-agency working. The module outlines key processes in criminal justice, including risk assessment and the planning and delivery of interventions to tackle dangerous offending. You will critically review the term ‘safeguarding’ and how interventions can be put in place to reduce the risk to individuals and protect the public.
• Serious Organised Crime (20 Credits) Core: The aim of this module is for you to consider the chronological development of the nature and threat from international serious and organised crime and the impact it is having on 21st-century society, law enforcement, and communities. In this module, you will study the origins and evolution of Serious Organised Crime, the key characteristics of Serious Organised Crime and the synthesis of crime type and crime groups on Serious Organised Crime. The impact of Human Intelligence on Serious Organised Crime and how criminals use technology is central to the threat from Serious Organised Crime. You will review the national and transnational landscape of Serious Organised Crime, looking at past, present, and future of Serious Organised Crime priorities.
• Research Methods in Policing Dissertation (40 Credits) Core: This module aims to provide an opportunity for you to carry out an in-depth study of a topic or issue based in or closely allied to Policing by independent study. The module will continue to develop your skills in the role of research in Policing and examine some of the main theories and methodologies used in social science and develop an understanding of the application of theory and methodology to research practice. You will then develop your ability to understand and define a problem or area for further study. You will develop the ability to extract relevant material from an in-depth literature review using primary and secondary sources, using this information to inform the design of your research study, and to undertake an original investigation using acceptable research methodologies. Finally, you will critically analyse and interpret results, to present a coherent and critical account of the work developing time management skills and achieving a measure of independence, demonstrating proficiency in academic writing or referencing.

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the course that will take the form of either core or option modules and should be used as a guide. We review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects. If during a review process, course content is significantly changed, we will contact you to notify you of these changes if you receive an offer from us.