Overview

The programme units aim to enable officers to:—

• Develop the skills, knowledge and attributes which underpin personal effectiveness;
• Assess the role of policing in society;
• Improve their professional knowledge through research and enquiry;
• Evaluate criminal justice in Scotland;
• Improve their decision making through knowledge of key principles and concepts;
• Evaluate ethical issues in policing;
• Improve performance through use of key management principles;
• Manage human resources effectively; and
• Evaluate differing leadership models and practice.

Content

Each unit is available for download in Adobe PDF format by clicking on the title. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Developing Skills for Personal Effectiveness

By completing this Unit officers will gain important knowledge and skills to help improve personal effectiveness.
The unit focuses on three main areas:—

• self awareness and personal skills—such as, self-assessment, time management, problem solving and task management;
  
• knowledge and understanding of the causes of stress and approaches to its reduction and resolution; and
• interpersonal skills—such as, communication skills, working with others, negotiating skills, assertiveness skills.

Contemporary Policing

By completing this unit officers will be able to set the policing system in Scotland in its historical and international context. The unit aims to enable officers to understand why the police service is the organisation that it is at present and to recognise the future challenges which it is likely to face.

Criminal Justice System in Scotland

By completing this unit officers will be able to analyse the underlying principles and issues which inform and influence a justice system and the institutions and processes which it includes. It also enables them to relate these general ideas to the particular situation of the justice system in contemporary Scotland.

Professional Knowledge in Policing

This unit is a practical unit. Its main focus is applying current criminal legislation to situations in which police officers are involved. It is intended to enable officers to become thoroughly familiar with accessing Police Information Net for Scotland (PINS) in order that they can analyse a situation, determine which legislation applies to it and which offences have been committed.

Professional Ethics in Policing

By completing this unit officers will be able to consider how they should respond to ethical dilemmas of the type that could be faced as a first line manager in the police service in Scotland.

Decision Making

By completing this unit officers will be able to develop a consistent approach to decision making which will cover both routine and non-routine situations. This should help them to decide on an effective course of action to tackle the kind of problem that they will meet as a first line manager in the police service in Scotland.

Organisational Management

This unit enables officers to analyse factors which can affect the work of managers in organisations including measures of performance, organisational structure and culture.

The Diploma aims to enable officers to recognise that the nature of the organisation and its structure and culture can have a considerable influence on the work of managers. Officers will also look at the key role that managers have in promoting organisational effectiveness and their contribution in developing organisational strategy.

People Management

By completing this unit officers will be able to analyse and evaluate the kind of situations which they will meet when managing people in the police service in Scotland. It aims to enable them to recognise that roles and responsibilities that a manager has and how these can be applied to enable the people that they manage to perform effectively.

Leadership

By completing this unit officers will be able to develop the leadership skills and personal effectiveness that are needed to fulfil a leadership role in the police service in Scotland. It also enables officers to build a foundation for their future development and, in particular, start the process of developing their own approach to leadership.

Unit Assessment

All units offered in this programme contain assessments which vary from examination to reflective report. These test the achievement of learning outcomes and must all be achieved for officers to attain the award.