Kozhikode: Calicut University has accepted the request from the Home Ministry to start affiliated courses at the Kerala Police Academy in Thrissur. The varsity will be offering two-year post-graduate as well as research programmes in the campus.

Vice-chancellor Dr K Mohammed Basheer told Onmanorama that the ministry as well as state police chief Loknath Behera had sought its opinion in starting the course and whether it was willing to offer the same.

“We are already conducting certificate courses in collaboration with the Police Academy in Thrissur. Recently we started two courses - applied criminology and crime analysis, and human rights - and more are lined up. The courses being offered at the Academy campus are like an in-service course for the police personnel. The same course can also be conducted in the university or in an affiliated organisation,” the vice chancellor said.

The university's Department of Life Long Learning and Extension is currently conducting certificate courses in various subjects, which caters to the needs of skilled professionals as well as students, who aspire to take up a particular profession.

The Police Academy is planning to conduct post graduate programmes in forensic and criminology, apart from research programmes in similar subjects. Once the academy applies for the programmes, the university is ready to grant affiliation, provided the government grants permission, said the vice-chancellor.

The university's centre will function like an affiliated college or self-financing institute, where students from outside can also attend along with the police personnel. The courses would be conducted in the academy building.

“Training is the best way to improve the quality of investigation. Making use of the technology will help detect the crimes faster in a world, where everything is recorded in some form or the other. We hope the new courses will help improve the efficiency of the force as a whole,” Basheer said.