DOCOs from Cheshire Constabulary undertake Diploma in Designing Out Crime

The RPEL pathway is a distance learning process that is offered exclusively by the Academy to enable Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) who have successfully completed a College of Policing or Home Office Crime Reduction Centre designing out crime course to use existing and current evidence to convert this course into the accredited Level 5 designing out crime qualification.

The Level 5 Diploma in Crime Prevention – Designing Out Crime is the recognised qualification both for police Designing Out Crime Officers and for others who will deliver designing out crime as part of a specialist role. The Academy is an established provider of police training, and is the approved centre for the awarding body ProQual with the exclusive link to the Secured by Design initiative.

Guy Collyer, Head of the Academy said: “We’re delighted that Cheshire Constabulary are supporting their DOCOs in accessing the accredited Level 5 qualification which supports their continued professional development (CPD) as well as providing them with a UK recognised qualification. The RPEL pathway recognises the experience of existing DOCOs and enables them to use it as evidence as well as negating the need to complete preliminary learning and to attend a classroom phase.”

Inspector Lindsay Dixon, from Cheshire Police’s partnership team, said: “Designing Out Crime Officers play a key role in recognising the changes needed to help make our communities safer. The work they do behind the scenes is very important and often goes unseen by the public.

“It’s always essential to continually invest in your employees development. This qualification offers many benefits to further enhance knowledge and additional learning which will help the team provide an even better service to the public”.

Further details about accessing the Level 5 Designing Out Crime qualification via the RPEL pathway, along with further information about the range of qualifications offered by the Academy, can be obtained by visiting https://www.crimepreventionacademy.com/ or emailing

The Academy is part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, the police owned, non-profit, organisation that works on behalf of the Police Service throughout the UK to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and police demand reduction initiatives. The Academy maintains close working links with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, as well as senior police officers from across the UK, and is the established supplier to the police service for crime prevention learning & development.

The Academy also delivers a number of qualifications to the private sector, working closely with local authorities and relevant specialists such as architects and planners, and recently launched a number of distance learning qualifications which can be achieved without the need to be away from home or work. The Academy pride itself in keeping the quality of qualifications at a premium and the costs at a minimum.