Students enjoy first night shift with Durham Constabulary

More than 30 Uniformed Services, Policing and Criminology students have enjoyed their first night shift with Durham Constabulary.

Tutors Katy Dixon (far left) and Sharron Trevor (fifth from left) are pictured with students at the end of the training exercise this morning.

They worked throughout Thursday night until 7am today on a training exercise where a series of real-life incidents they would face working in the emergency services were simulated.

They included:

• Hostage negotiation skills
• Taking an emergency 999 call as a call handler
• Attending a domestic assault incident
• Method of entry to properties training (use of force)
• Witness statement taking workshop
• Fitness testing
• Dog Section awareness session
• Taking a prisoner into the custody suite safely
• Riot Police training (PSU)
• Searching properties and outdoor locations
• Searching a person.

The exercise, held at Durham Constabulary's Training Centre in Meadowfield, Durham, was organised by the force and HM Coastguard.

Course Coordinator for Criminology Katy Dixon, herself a former police officer, joined the students for the full ten-hour shift. She said: “Last night was a huge success – I’d like to say a huge thank you to Inspector Jamie Gray and colleagues for organising such a fantastic opportunity for our students.”

Policing & UPS Course Coordinator Sharron Trevor, who also took part, added: “They dealt with simulations of real experiences and incidents which emergency personnel face on a daily basis and the feedback was fantastic. They may have been a little tired by the end of the ‘shift’ but they were absolutely buzzing!”

The college runs a range of uniformed services and criminology courses which offer ideal preparation for training for a career in policing and other uniformed services. Find out more here.