Criminal investigation and higher education: a crossroads to an uncertain future

This paper will examine the relationship between criminal investigation specialists and higher education. Recent attempts at professionalizing detectives have been made with the introduction of PIP (Professionalising Investigation Programme), with calls for professionalisation for the service as a whole. The need for more research and the co-ordination of knowledge generation in relation to crime investigation is an important feature of this aspiring profession. In this context the paper will explore the opportunities and barriers for collaboration and partnerships between universities and criminal investigators. The analysis will acknowledge the challenges to the police in recent budget cuts, the prospect of increased involvement of the private sector, the erosion of detective ‘status’, the development of detective specialisms and the contribution of pre-employment learning and development. This paper suggests that policing is at a crossroads and needs to indentify now how policing learning and knowledge generation is to be developed in the future.