Academy delivers training to island forces

The Police Crime Prevention Academy has been supporting the States of Jersey Police and Guernsey Police with the continuing professional development of their officers.

The Academy was delighted to be invited to work with both the States of Jersey Police and Guernsey Police in January 2024, facilitating a CPD event which focused on problem-solving, the site security survey process for residential and non-residential properties and the Environmental Visual Audit (EVA) process.

Officers from both forces attended the three day CPD event, with the support of their respective Chief Officers Robin Smith and Ruari Hardy, furthering a sharing of experiences between the delegates from the two island forces.

Covering an area of 119.4 km², The States of Jersey Police serves a resident population of just over 107,000 people as well as over 700,000 visitors to Jersey each year. Many of the force’s 215 officers are trained in specialist skills over and above those needed for their normal duties so that they can be called upon at any time to perform specialist roles. A large investment in training is needed to keep officers at the required level of expertise.

Guernsey Police is the police service for the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The service's enforcement jurisdiction extends across the entire bailiwick and encompasses the Islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Herm, and Sark, covering an area of 78 km² and serving a resident population of around 67,500 people.

Guy Ferguson, CEO of Police CPI, said: “We were delighted to work with police colleagues in the Channel Islands to help them enhance their crime prevention and problem solving skills.

This investment in the officers professional development will help support them in their role and ensure that they make a real difference in their local communities”.

Inspector David Turnbull, Head of Community Policing, The States of Jersey Police, said: “Crime prevention is a crucial aspect of maintaining safety and security in our local communities as reflected in our new Policing Plan for 2024 – 2027 as one of our strategic visions. Following the training by The Police Crime Prevention Academy, 12 Officers from our Community Policing Team are now equipped to provide valuable advice to community members, local businesses and victims of crime. Their expertise will help enhance safety and security, making our communities a safer place to live and work.

“Furthermore three officers will now be undertaking further training and development to gain a formal qualification in Crime Prevention.”

Guernsey Police commented: “The joint training presented by The Crime Prevention Academy to both Guernsey Officers and our colleagues from The States of Jersey Police was an opportunity to learn in partnership and discuss the issues we both face within our local communities. It was encouraging to see that Guernsey and Jersey are working in a similar way on crime prevention and tackling antisocial behaviour and the issue of violence against women and girls.

“The training provided valuable procedures for how we should seek to work with partner agencies and seek to prevent criminality. The training has given the Guernsey Crime Reduction Officer and Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant additional skills that will assist in crime reduction and protecting the more vulnerable members of our community and their property from becoming victims of crime. The attending staff were also given a presentation by a commercial business which has developed and introduced a number of products which could assist in protecting properties and valuable possessions in the island.

“We would like to thank The States of Jersey Police for their hospitality and the staff from the Crime Prevention Academy for coming to the Channel Islands to deliver the training. We hope to work more closely with them in the future and share ideas around tackling the types of crime we encounter within the Bailiwick.”

The Police Crime Prevention Academy is one of the seven initiatives owned by Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Police CPI). In 2017 the College of Policing withdrew from delivering crime prevention and designing out crime training. The Academy was created to take on this training delivery under an agreement with the College of Policing.

The Academy delivers a variety of crime prevention, designing out crime and problem-solving qualifications, eLearning courses, webinars and bespoke training events for police forces across the UK, as well as for the public and private sectors.

Accredited by the awarding body ProQual, these national vocational qualifications can be delivered either locally and in person, virtually via Microsoft Teams or through the Academy’s eLearning platform. The Academy are also able to design and deliver bespoke training events.

For more information about the Academy’s qualifications and eLearning CPD courses, please visit www.crimepreventionacademy.com or contact the Academy at info@crimepreventionacademy.com.