IPS officers undergo strategic training at Cambridge

Eighty senior IPS officers in the ranks of Deputy Inspector-General and Inspector-General on Saturday completed their eight-week course in strategic management at the Cambridge University, United Kingdom. The programme was organised in collaboration with the O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonepat, near the capital.

The participants, in the first six weeks of training at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, had lecture-workshop sessions twice daily, capped by weekly examinations and assessments, according to a press release issued by C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, JGU, and Dean, Jindal Global Law School,

In the U.K., the IPS officers visited the Cambridge and Peterborough Crown Courts to discuss the U.K. justice and legal system with judges of the Crown Court. They also got an opportunity to visit the HMP Edmunds Hill and Highpoint Prison.

The programme was conducted by faculty members from both universities and police practitioners from the U.K., the United States and Australia. The contract for this training was offered to the Cambridge and Jindal universities by the Indian Home Ministry, with the object of strengthening the law enforcement mechanism through knowledge-based policing.

The most important and valuable visit during the U.K. leg was to the House of Commons, where the participants had a discussion with the Minister of State for Police and Criminal Justice, Nick Herbert; the Director, Police Reform and Resources, Home office, Stephan Kershaw; and other members of the Home Affairs Select Committee. The participants visited Birmingham, the centre for the West Midlands Police of the U.K., and the Tally Ho training centre, where they had an interaction with the Chief Constable.

Global issues
The issues covered in these presentations included corruption investigation, counter-terrorism, and interrogation methods. Lectures and workshops covered an even broader range of global issues, with the faculty drawn from the U.S., Australia, U.K. and India representing leading universities and major police agencies from around the world.

The concluding session was attended by Professor Lawrence Sherman, Wolfson Professor of Criminology and Director of Police Executive Education at the University of Cambridge, Professor Raj Kumar, Lord Ian Blair, former London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Sanjeev P. Sahni, Head of Education, Jindal Group.

Professor Sherman, who is a co-director of the course, said: “The IPS officers showed an impressive interest in advancing the science of policing by conducting pioneering new experiments in crime prevention on the rigorous model of medical clinical trials. With the JGU’s support, the police agencies of India have the best opportunities in the world for producing a geometric increase in the scientific knowledge about effective police practices.”

Evidence-based policing
Professor Raj Kumar said: “I welcome the interest of the IPS officers in the growing field of ‘evidence-based policing’, which is a central focus of our Centre for Penology, Criminal Justice and Police Studies at the Jindal Global Law School.” With the completion of training for the third batch, 300 senior IPS officers of the rank DIG and IG have been trained so far under the mid-career training programme.

Source: The Hindu, October 30, 2011