The Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL), working with Associate Lecturer Laurence Knell, has published four more free courses focusing on community policing and empowerment. This work is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), bringing the number of PSNI Community engagement courses on OpenLearn to seven, with another four now commissioned.
The success of these courses is reflective of strong stakeholder engagement and the development of a real partnership with the PSNI.
We are pleased that the latest four modules have been added to our ever-growing portfolio of learning for policing. We are now working on another four courses due to be published later this year.
Paul Walley
CPRL Director of Learning
The latest courses cover a diverse range of topics:
Justice, fairness and mediation
This course covers two specific approaches to justice and fairness – restorative justice and mediation.
Empowering communities
This course looks at community empowerment and how to overcome barriers to achieving empowerment.
Engaging with youth and young people
This course looks at how police engage with youth and young people and how this might be done differently.
Exploring evidence-based policing
This is designed as an introductory course in evidence-based practice (EBP). It reflects on ways EBP influences communities.
This article was first published on the CPRL website. Click here to read the original article.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 - 09:00 to 17:00
Michael Young Building, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BB
This one-day symposium on ‘Doing Academia Differently’ will provide inspiration and support for PhD and early-career academics to approach the complex tensions and dilemmas of contemporary academia in new and creative ways.
Thursday, March 12, 2026 - 11:30 to 12:30
Online Webinar - link below
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