The National Policing Improvement Agency

PROGRAMME(S):

• Strategic Command Course

Who Should Attend?

The Strategic Command Course is aimed at superintendents, chief superintendents and police staff equivalents who are seeking promotion to chief officer rank (ie Assistant Chief Constable, Commander and Assistant Chief Officer)

The course also welcomes participants from partner agencies, other law enforcement agencies and police officers from non UK police services.

Course / Module entry requirements

Participants must pass the Senior Police National Assessment Centre (Senior PNAC) or Senior Staff Selection Process.

The SCC is a statutory course for superintendents and chief superintendents in order to become a member of the Association of Chief  Police Officers (ACPO/ACPOS).

Dates and Venues

Course / Module duration

400 hours over 45 days plus 2 hours final tutorial

Assessment process / accreditation details

It is a nine week assessed course.

Additional Information

Course participants attend seminars and lectures, engage in coaching and mentoring, directed learning, exercises and action research.

Participants have the opportunity to explore their future working environment and present their findings to panels drawn from the Police Service, academia and public and private sector executives.

For bookings and enquiries, please contact

Tel: +44 (0)1256 602402
Email: scc@npia.pnn.police.uk

Cost to HO Forces

N/A

Cost to non HO Forces

Price on application

Overview

The Strategic Command Course (SCC) is regarded as the prestigious senior leadership development programme in policing. It is a prerequisite for officers and staff seeking to attain the rank of chief police officer in the UK and is open to international police delegates and those from other law enforcement agencies aspiring to the most senior positions in their home countries.

For the first time, the 2012 SCC is also open to a small number of non police delegates working at the executive level in other public sector bodies.

The course is primarily delivered through a series of highly demanding strategic exercises, which are designed to stretch the participants' knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities across the following three key areas:

• Business Skills
• Executive Skills
• Professional Policing Skills

 This is augmented by external speakers from a broad range of organisations who bring their own experiences of leading at the strategic level. Additional expertise is provided by subject matter experts who work with the participants during the exercises.

The course is syndicate based, with each syndicate led by an experienced chief officer; and a significant amount of the learning also takes place with peer support.

Aims

The principle aim of the Strategic Command Course (SCC) is:

"to help selected UK and international police officers and police staff prepare for appointment to the most demanding executive roles in the police service".

There are 9 learning objectives and 12 ACPO behaviour competencies. These were written in consultation with ACPO/(S) and have been accepted as ACPO policy and endorsed by the Police Leadership Development Board.

Objectives

Business:

•  Demonstrate the essential strategic leadership skills required to manage the risk created by the increasingly fluctuating demands of a dramatic financial environment and the impact this has on the policing provision to communities

• Further develop business skills within policing in order to have appropriate resource control where you can be confident about: the use of assets, productivity, preparedness for rapid change and a clear understanding of policing priorities

• Create an organisational culture that encourages innovation and engagement from the entire workforce, be able to negotiate on all aspects of organisational capability ensuring effective resource leverage and utilisation, value for money, and taking cost out of the organisation whilst maintaining or improving performance and be capable of maintaining organisational focus in a negative operating environment

Executive:

• Demonstrate the adaptive leadership characteristics necessary to lead policing through a complex, challenging and frequently competing modern landscape

• Understand the current and emerging constitutional position of policing in a democratic society and the debate on accountability, to be in a position to significantly influence this debate through the current stage of extra ordinary complexity

• Articulate an inclusive vision for the future of the service, incorporating your leadership style, values, decision making skills and emotional intelligence and to be able to communicate that vision, whilst understanding the importance of making a positive contribution to national police service development

Professional:

• Understand and have the ability to balance off the demands of civil liberties and civil legitimacy

• Develop high level competence in critical incident leadership and management of local and national situations and respond in a way that secures and enhances public confidence and be absolutely clear about the value added by effective strategic command

• Take on the challenges and responsibilities of leadership in Gold command in high risk operations and demonstrate the necessary skills of negotiation internally, externally and with government agencies in order to achieve the most appropriate of outcomes