The University welcomed 35 data analysts on the new pilot programme of Continuing Professional Development which will run from January till August.

The initiative is funded under the N8 Policing Research Partnership project and is being co-developed and delivered by Lancaster and Leeds Universities.

The N8 Policing Research Partnership is a collaboration between the eight most research intensive universities (Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York) and the eleven police forces in the North of England. 

The partnership has been established to enable and foster research collaborations that will help address the problems of policing in the 21st century and achieve international excellence in policing research. The £6.5 million, five year N8 PRP project is funded by a HEfCE catalyst grant.

Work with the partnership over the past twelve months identified a gap in training for data specialists (analysts) and an appetite for specialist training for this group devised and delivered collaboratively by academics and police partners. 

As strand leads for Training and Learning and Data Analytics, Lancaster and Leeds are working together to develop a specialist programme of CPD. 

The programme includes seven modules of specialist training. Each module is co-developed and co-delivered by policing and academic colleagues from across the N8 Policing Research Partnership, coordinated by Dr Jude Towers at Lancaster, who leads the Training and Learning strand and Professor David Allen and Fiona McLaughlin from Leeds, who lead the Data Analytics strand. 

The first module in the programme - Fundamentals of Critical Understandings of Data and its Context – was launched at Lancaster University on 10 and 11 January. 

Dr Jude Towers said: “This is such an exciting opportunity to develop and deliver a unique specialist training programme bringing together policing data specialists and academics from across the North of England. 

“Police analysts have a vital role to play in driving forward evidence-informed policing so that scarce resources can be most effectively used in crime prevention and public protection.” 

Further details from: Dr Jude Towers, N8 PRP Training and Learning strand Lead (j.towers1@lancaster.ac.uk) and see also the N8 Policing Research Partnership website: www.n8prp.org.uk