A-level students from across North Wales take part in Murder Investigation Day

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Students from across North Wales schools and colleges learnt more about how police investigations are conducted at a ‘Murder Investigation Day’ organised by �鶹��ý��’s criminology, sociology and law course leaders this week.

The event was the brainchild of Alun Oldfield, a lecturer on �鶹��ý��’s Policing degree who brings more than 30 years of policing experience to bear on providing insights into investigations of serious crime and making these accessible to university and visiting A-level students.

Opening the event, Chief Constable of North Wales Police Amanda Blakeman said, “I’m really pleased to be supporting the collaboration we have with �鶹��ý��. Today, at this first Murder Investigation Day, students will gain a valuable insight into what a murder investigation entails, including initial scene preservation all the way to prosecution. You’re going to experience the challenges that face policing, whilst responding to what is the most serious of incidents, where we have an absolute obligation to bring offenders to justice to support victims and to deliver the best service we can to our communities.

“I’ve over thirty years of policing experience now in a variety of roles, and there’s none more challenging than that which we ask of our investigators and detectives. The opportunity to work on the most complex and the most serious of offences do not come more challenging than that of a murder enquiry. I’m incredibly proud to be a police officers and incredibly proud to be Chief Constable of North Wales Police, and I hope today provides you with an opportunity to think about further careers, either in policing, criminology or law and serves to further collaboration between North Wales Police and �鶹��ý��.”

Audience listening to a speaker — Students hear from North Wales Police Chief Constable
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Speaker with a presentation in the background — Hearing from HM Coroner for East and Central North Wales, John Gittins
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Group of students looking at a presentation — Students hear more about forensic investigations
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Students looking at a presentation — Students hear witness accounts to learn more about the investigative process.
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Students listening to a presentation — Learning what happens when there is a breakthrough in the case
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During the day, students heard directly from police and other experts, including HM Coroner for East and Central North Wales John Gittins the Scientific Support Manager and North Wales Police’s Major Investigation Team Detective Chief Inspector about their own experiences of working on murder investigations. Students then viewed the crime scene, listened to filmed interviews with both suspects and witnesses, and learnt how all the evidence is pieced together. The Murder Investigation Day was a cross-College collaboration, supported by �鶹��ý��’s Drama and Media students as actors, interviewers, and documentary producers, as well as criminology and policing lecturers.

The idea behind the day is to allow students with an interest in policing, criminology, social science and law to hear first-hand how police investigations are dealt with, and really give them that insight into all the different roles open to them if they are interested in this field.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with North Wales Police and the Coroner’s Office to plan this event and offer this opportunity to A-level students in local schools and colleges.

Dewi Roberts from Coleg Llandrillo, who also teaches on the Professional Policing course at �鶹��ý��, said, “It’s been a really interesting and important day in terms of helping students think about the different career pathways they can take and which courses would best suit their interests."

Learn more about our undergraduate programme in Professional Policing here and Criminology and Criminal Justice here.

Learn more about all the courses in the Social Sciences here

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