College of Policing

Working together with everyone in policing, we share the skills and knowledge officers and staff need to prevent crime and keep people safe.

• We’re the professional body for the police service in England and Wales.
• We share knowledge and good practice, set standards, and support professional development.
• We set the standards in policing to build and preserve public trust and we help those in policing develop the expertise needed to meet the demands of today and prepare for the challenges of the future.

Share knowledge and good practice

We gather and share information across policing, providing easy access to knowledge and good practice. Our guidelines, from neighbourhood policing to managing risk and vulnerability, share good-practice advice using evidence gathered from across operational policing and research. We identify what works and share the best-available evidence in our Crime Reduction Toolkit. We work with people across policing to share challenges and experience. Our regional and national events, Going Equipped publication and work with Police ICT Company’s Knowledge Hub provide a central place to share and find knowledge that improves practice at a local, regional and national level. Our research map and bursaries support work by officers and staff, forces and academics that provides evidence to help solve problems and keep people safe, now and in the future.

Set standards

We set standards for key areas of policing which help forces and individuals provide consistency and a better service for the public. Our evidence-based guidelines and Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guide policing practice across England and Wales. We also create and maintain codes of practice – reflecting the integrity and empathy of those in policing and strengthening the UK’s policing by consent model. We set standards for learning to make sure everyone in policing has the operational knowledge needed to protect the public. We quality assure training, provide licences such as accreditation for specialist units and set the National Policing Curriculum which is used to train people from the day they join and throughout their careers. We support assessment from our initial recruit assessment process to our Senior Police National Assessment Centre. We work together to ensure that standards and assessment processes across policing are fair for people from all backgrounds.

Support professional development

We support and deliver learning and professional development, supporting progress, promoting diversity and wellbeing and helping to nurture and select leaders at all levels. We provide training and high-quality learning materials, ranging from digital investigation and modern slavery to specialist training in counter terrorism and firearms. As the challenges and demands of policing evolve, our online and face-to-face learning programmes make sure everyone in policing has the operational knowledge they need to protect the public. Our career pathways and role profiles define the requirements for progression, for those who want to develop advanced skills in their current role, or progress to senior ranks. We provide opportunities for everyone in policing to continue to develop skills and knowledge, from coaching and mentoring to our Command Skills course, and workshops on improving resilience to our Senior Leadership Development Programme. We are committed to improving diversity in policing, to make sure that we are representative of the communities we serve. Our Aspire programme provides tools, skills, knowledge and confidence to aspiring future leaders who are currently under-represented within the service