Mock courtroom
Level 6 Policing and Criminal Investigation student Shannon McDarby talks about her experience on our module ‘Case File to Court’ and the practical skills she learned.
In our final year we have a module called ‘Case File to Court’. This module builds on the investigation skills that we learnt in second year.
I found this module really useful for developing my investigation skills for the future as we covered a case from being the first attending officer at the crime scene all the way through to giving evidence in the court.
We had to interview the suspect and compile a case file with all the different forms. The final assessment on the module is a court appearance. The lecturers act as the judge and barristers in gowns and wigs and we had to give our evidence.
Whilst it is nerve wracking being in the box and being cross examined by the defence, it is such a good experience. We had a practice version of this last year so that gave us all an idea on what to expect so we weren’t as nervous going into this assessment.
I like that it feels real, being in the court and everyone in the real dress, but this is a safe space to get this experience before we do it for real as police officers and detectives.