The MSc Policing Course is unique in several respects:

• It is the only academic master-level course that puts strategic policing needs at the heart of education – in every typical field of policing and from an international perspective.
• It is the only master course in the Netherlands of which the learning outcomes are derived from established occupational profiles of the National Police.
• The part-time mode of study facilitates a combination of academic and work-place learning by police officers and related colleagues.
• The course blends research findings with operational policing or criminal investigation experiences.
• The English language of communication is conducive to sharing research products with foreign police colleagues and partners.
• It is an internationally recognised joint degree of CCCU and the Police Academy of the Netherlands (due to validation by CCCU and accreditation by the NVAO).
• Students already have a working background at a tactical level, which enables them and the lecturers to have fruitful and in-depth discussions on the applicability of academic insights to policing strategies.
• Students are working for the police or other law enforcement agencies, which allows them to base their research also on closed intelligence data and give advice to fellow colleagues.

Pre-Arrival

There are no specific pre-arrival must-do tasks except from entry requirements. To ensure that students are potentially able to master level 7 learning outcomes, the usual intake prerequisites are in place, i.e. those that are officially prescribed in the Netherlands and/or the UK. Applicants for the Course should possess one of the following degrees or equivalent:

• Dutch Bachelor of Policing Diploma or former equivalent at qualification level EQF6
• Award of any Dutch university or University of Applied Sciences, where the award demonstrates the ability to apply basic research methods
• UK bachelor’s degree with Honours • an equivalent (foreign) award including research methods, or equivalent experience

The intake includes an interview to establish whether the applicant possess the required competences to complete the Course, especially with regard to research skills and – for non-native speakers of English – English language proficiency.

By the end of August or at the beginning of September, there are induction weeks at the Police Academy in Apeldoorn and at the premises of CCCU about regulatory procedures, the content of the Course, residential schedules, exam deadlines and research competences next to some exemplary lectures.

The first module is about policing models, broken down in four course weeks on subsequently the History of Policing in Comparative Perspective, Criminal Investigation & Technology, Intelligence and Public Order Policing. These topics will be examined by means of a literature review and an oral literature exam that includes presentation skills.

The type of pre-course reading depends on the lecturer in question, who normally supplies relevant reading in advance of his or her lecture.

During and in between the residential weeks research support is provided, also in relation to the type of exam: a literature review, an oral literature exam, a case study, an essay, a research proposal, a research report and the dissertation (thesis).