New partnership bridges the gap between academia, law enforcement and private security

The real-world experience of security professionals will be turned into formal academic qualifications as part of a strengthening partnership between the University of Northampton (UON) and the City Security Council (CSC).

Following terrorist attacks in London, the CSC was formed to unite private security resources within the City of London to share intelligence and has been instrumental in building cooperation between private security firms and the City of London Police.

That work has proven so successful that the CSC is extending its model to other major UK cities, including Manchester and Liverpool, using the City of London as a template.

Having already provided training guidance to the CSC, UON has joined the CSC Intelligence Group as its academic advisor and will now use its research and educational capabilities to offer those with extensive real life experience the chance to turn it into qualifications through the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) process.

Private sector partners will also set real world security challenges for students to solve.

Simon Feist, UON’s Deputy Head of Criminal Justice studies, said: “This partnership represents an important development in the security and criminal justice sectors.

“By aligning academic rigour with real-world experience, we are providing professionals with the tools they need to advance their careers and contribute to public safety.

“And as students rub shoulders with these professionals and come up with innovative solutions to existing and emerging problems, it will give them a significant advantage when they start looking for employment.”

Stephen Shackell, CSC Director of Intelligence & Risk, added: “The CSC recognise the excellent training provided by the UON to develop candidates for the security industry, who come out of their security related courses and hit the ground running, and a number of our members have benefitted.

“This partnership with UON and its offer of the APEL route for our members is an exciting development as the CSC grows nationally.”

To learn more about Criminology and Corporate Investigation courses, visit the UON website.