LW3POL: Police and Society

Module code: LW3POL

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Leandro Franca , email: l.franca@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Thomas Nyman, email: t.nyman@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module provides a comprehensive understanding of modern policing by drawing on criminological and psychological perspectives. From a criminological standpoint, students will explore the history, structure, and functions of policing, as well as contemporary challenges such as crime trends, public trust, accountability, and models of law enforcement. Psychology complements this by examining the human factors central to policing, including memory reliability, investigative interviewing, decision-making, and the role of bias. By integrating these disciplines, the module offers a holistic view of policing, highlighting how criminological and psychological insights together enhance our understanding of law enforcement practices, community relations, and the implications of emerging technologies. This interdisciplinary approach equips students with the tools to critically analyse the relationship between policing, individuals, and society in both local and global contexts.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the history, functions, and evolving role of policing, integrating criminological and psychological perspectives.
2. Critically analyse the evolution, models, and cultures of policing, identifying key challenges and their implications in both local and global contexts.
3. Apply theoretical and practical frameworks to evaluate the impact of policing practices on communities, policy, and social justice.
4. Critically evaluate decision-making processes in policing and judicial settings, considering factors such as memory reliability, bias, investigative interviewing techniques, and the impact of emerging technologies.

Module content

1. History of policing and the police.
2. Contemporary crime and policing challenges (Crime trends, stats and data. Policing domestic violence, drugs and knife crimes. Police powers: stop and search, arrest, detention at the police station, criminal investigation. Protest policing. Militarisation.)
3. Policing in the UK: Thames Valley Police (Structure, functions, and practices of Thames Valley Police. Evidence based approaches. Research and what is done with it. Changes. Crime prevention. Campaigns. Training. Policy impact. Feedback from society.)
4. Police legitimacy, authority, fear, public trust, accountability and oversight.
5. Models of policing (community policing, problem-oriented policing, order maintenance policing, intelligence-led policing, zero-tolerance policing, predictive policing).
6. Police culture in a global context.
7. Witnessing crime (in crime detection and prosecution, including challenges like memory reliability).
8. Investigative interviewing (suspects, witnesses, and victims).
9. Race, bias, and decision making in policing.
10. Emerging technologies in policing (cyber-security, facial recognition, AI/LLM, decision making. Ethical dilemmas surrounding surveillance, data privacy, and algorithmic bias).
11. Revision

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will be taught by a combination of:

• 11 weekly two-hour long lectures (22 hours)
• 05 fortnightly two-hour tutorials (10 hours)
• blended learning (8 hours)
• independent study (150 hours)

Lectures provide overviews of the literature and debates on the topic. Tutorials provide opportunities for students to explore the topics in more detail and focus on their applied aspects in smaller groups. Tutorials will also be used to provide students with input about assessments and requisite research and study skills. Students will be expected to undertake relevant preparatory reading prior to attending lectures and tutorials.

Study hours

At least 32 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs