Could you help solve some of the biggest challenges facing police forces?

Crime dramas like the BBC’s Line of Duty and ITV’s Vera and The Bay, have brought viewers closer to the gritty realities of some police work.

Very difficult issues for police, however, are dominating the news; violence against women and girls, youth violence and county lines gangs, and trust in the police are some of the issues brought to the fore by cases such as Wayne Couzens and the police’s response to vigils for his victim, Sarah Everard.

These issues get to the heart of policing and are the types of problems our students are helping to address in our groundbreaking ‘Hacking for Police’ (H4P) module.

Do you want the opportunity to solve these problems? In doing so you will gain a deep understanding of how police forces work and how they respond to crime.

We’ve partnered with the charity Common Mission Project, and the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) to become the first university to offer this ‘Hacking for Police’ module.

The Common Mission Project works with universities across the country to deliver mission-driven entrepreneurship with their ‘Hacking for’ programmes, each designed to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society, from national security to natural disasters, from energy to the environment.

The Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) is a Home Office unit that takes a highly innovative and disruptive approach to solving technology and data problems facing public sector agencies, primarily in law enforcement and national security.

Final-year Criminology students have started this innovative new module, working in teams of four or five, to learn about and solve the problems facing frontline police officers both regionally and nationally, including domestic violence, youth gang involvement and building public trust and confidence in police.

The course will be taught by Professor Robert Dover and Dr Nicola O’Leary.

“Hacking for Police” will facilitate our final year students to engage critically with a specific and complex policing problem where they will learn to work effectively as a team, demonstrate a strong professional ethos, and work to challenging deadlines and engaging in the real world of Criminal Justice problems and solutions.

Students on the ‘Hacking for Police’ module will present their work to high-level experts in their field, helping inform policy and practice.

It will present students with real-world challenges and experience, and help them gain crucial employability and career skills.

“My colleagues and I are delighted to be working with the Common Mission Project UK, the Home Office, Leicestershire and Kent Police to bring this first Hacking for Police module to the UK.

“I chose the module as I knew it would provide me with practical experience whilst also giving me the chance to network. So far, I have found it challenging but also very beneficial…

“…It has pushed me out of my comfort zone through tasks such as engaging with and interviewing professionals, and I have found this really good for enhancing my confidence as well as my skills.

“The fact that I find the problem our group is working towards really interesting motivates me to patriciate to my full capacity as I have a genuine interest in what we can come up with as a team. I would highly recommend this module to any students who have the chance to participate in it!”

Jess Koshy – Criminology student, University of Hull