Access to this collection is restricted to those nominated by the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS). If you have not received specific access details and an enrolment key you will need to obtain these from the Open University through contact details you will have been provided with by your force / organisation or directly from the Open University.

If you have all the required details to access the course you will need to login to this site and then utilise your enrolment key to access your Police Strategic Applied Leadership in Data and Technology programme.

Purpose of the course

The National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) has teamed up with the Open University to provide this programme called Police Strategic Applied Leadership in Data and Technology Course (PSADTC). The first pilot course begins in April 2023 and this first cohort will complete their learning in October 2023. It is anticipated that this programme will be repeated annually and further cohorts may be added. This is subject to evaluation and funding.

This programme is aimed at senior police leaders working at a strategic level. The course will enable participants to make a step change in the policing approach to managing data, technology, and people and it will enable them to ask the right questions of their own data and technical experts to lead improvement initiatives which improve wellbeing and operational effectiveness and efficiency.

An aim of the course is to help address unacceptably elevated levels of hindrance stress as caused by poor or inappropriate choices and uses of technology and data. A recent national well-being survey of over 36,000 staff highlighted hindrance stressors as the main issue affecting key indicators such as job satisfaction, intention to quit, feeling valued by the force, fatigue, and stress. Consequently, improvements in technology and data understanding and decisions by police leaders can contribute to improving workforce well-being, physical and mental health, motivation and job satisfaction.

Technology and data exist in a complex system which includes people and how they understand, use, or avoid using technology and data. The role of leadership in shaping decisions, cultures, actions, and wellbeing is critical. Leadership is also essential in innovation by influencing the culture in which experimentation and exploration is undertaken while keeping a focus on risk management. 

This programme assumes considerable experience of the participants in leadership of teams and projects, so it focuses on the leadership tasks of senior public leaders, including leadership with political astuteness.

Programme structure

The programme is made up of four separate but interdependent modules:

• Module 1: Online Pre-Course Learning

• Module 2: Residential Course I – 4 days face to face learning

• Module 3: Application of the Learning – with action learning sets

• Module 4: Residential Course II – 2 days face to face learning

This is very much an applied course and all participants are expected to attend with a live work project or problem they are seeking to address. This allows them to apply learning immediately to real world issues. The content is designed with this in mind.

Further learning resources related to policing

For further enquires feel free to contact the Centre for Policing Research and Learning or the Policing Degrees team at OUPC@open.ac.uk. You may also wish to visit the following webpages: 

Centre for Policing Research and Learning | (open.ac.uk)