Immersive training, practical skills and tough assessment: So is opposition to policing degrees just down to ignorance or cynicism?

‘Degree gate’ – the apparent controversy over the value of policing degrees – has been a topic of conversation in UK policing circles and on social media for months; but for former chief superintendent Owen West, now a policing lecturer, the quality and depth of training, exposure to practical skills and enthusiasm of students suggests that much of the opposition to pre-join policing degrees must be based either in ignorance or cynicism.