Professional development
We offer a number of continuing professional development short courses that are designed for police and community safety partnership officers, analysts, information officers, and researchers
Courses take place in London or can be delivered on-site.
Masterclasses for all
Management skills for police leaders (five days)
This five-day CPD course, developed by the Institute for Global City Policing and UCL’s School of Management, prepares highly driven police officers to lead modern day police organisations in a complex and fast changing operational environment. Inspired by UCL’s long history of disruptive research and inclusivity, the course draws on a range of diverse management lessons from the private and public sector to equip students to reimagine policing paradigms, solve complex operational challenges, break boundaries and make an impact on real world policing problems.
Problem solving and evidence-based responses to crime (bespoke course)
This course is offered as a bespoke course to police, community safety or other authorities interested in problem solving and the principles involved in implementing evidence-based responses to crime and other public safety issues. The course is offered as either a one-day masterclass or a stretched programme, delivered on request, from our offices in London or on-site.
Strategic assessments: crime and ASB reduction (one day)
This course examines the production process of the Strategic Assessment, what needs to go into it and the main approaches for structuring its content.
Analyst courses
Crime analysis
Length: Four days
This course offers the essential skills that an analyst requires to become pro-actively involved in information-driven, evidence-led, problem solving approaches to reducing crime, ASB and other community safety issues. The course is highly interactive, and is designed to improve an analyst’s awareness of data that are available across a range of agencies for analysis, extend their skills in analytical techniques, and build their confidence in ensuring that analysis is used to influence decision-making. The course places great emphasis on helping analysts to develop a real understanding of crime (and other public safety issues of interest), and contribute to how these problems are tackled. After taking the course, analysts are much better equipped for producing good quality analysis products such as problem profiles and target profiles.
Geographic profiling analysis
Length: two weeks
This course is designed to give analysts the background and skills required to develop and to interpret geographic profiles correctly and to generate actionable recommendations that can support criminal investigations. The course is the only certified geographic profiling course held outside of North America. On successful completion, participants are certified as Geographic Profiling Analysts.
Masterclass: Hypothesis testing analysis
Length: one day
This course introduces the hypothesis testing analysis approach that is designed to improve the explanatory content of problem profiles and other analytical products. Most analytical products developed in policing and community safety often only describe a problem, rather than understanding and explaining it. On this course we take you through the practical application of the hypothesis testing method for analysis and illustrate its use across a full range of crime and community safety problems.
GIS: Understanding hotspots
Length: one day
This course introduces analysts and researchers to techniques for identifying and understanding hotspots, such as thematic mapping using geographic units and kernel density estimation.
GIS: Advanced hotspot analysis
Length: one day
This course develops an analyst's skills for understanding hotspots and other spatial patterns of crime. The course introduces analysts to a more robust approach for identifying hotspots using statistical significance mapping (the Gi* statistic) and a technique for identifying emerging problem areas.
GIS: Predictive mapping
Length: one day
This course examines the use of the patterning principles of repeat victimisation and near repeat victimisation for producing operational predictions of crime. Participants are taken through the process of measuring the extent of repeats and near repeats, how these patterns can be used to create mapping output that support operational predictions (and how the predictions can be used), and the theory that underpins the predictions.
GIS: Risk and harm mapping
Length: one day
This course examines the use of analytical techniques for identifying priority areas based on risk, vulnerability and harm. The course involves instruction on three main techniques - the Vulnerable Localities Index, Risk Terrain Mapping and Harm Mapping (drawing from the principles of the Cambridge Crime Harm Index and the ONS Crime Severity Score).
