Our Cold Case Unit has won a British Society of Criminology Award for Excellence in Teaching Criminology.

The award is intended to highlight and celebrate the best practice in teaching criminology across HEIs in the UK and is led by the BSC Learning and Teaching Network.  

USW's Cold Case Unit was set up in 2019 to help the families of missing people whilst providing Criminology students with an opportunity to put the theory that they are taught in class into practice and learn additional investigative skills.

Dr Cheryl Allsop, who established the Cold Case Unit, said: "We want to develop successful students, who can demonstrate leadership in their profession and promote active citizenship. In working on these cold cases, our students are providing a service to the families of the missing, looking for opportunities to progress the cases that might not otherwise get the focused attention that they need. I am extremely proud of the professionalism and commitment our students devote to these unsolved cases and the work they are doing to develop the programme.”

Dr Suzanne Young, SFHEA, Deputy Director of the British Society of Criminology’s Learning and Teaching Network, said:  ‘This is an excellent example of partnership working with policing in a real-life setting working on real world challenges. The development of the project has been evidenced well, showing how it has expanded in scope to missing persons. Good to see the Open Source, enabling greater inclusion in the transition to digital during Covid, showing it is adaptable and flexible in its delivery. It is an innovative project with clear benefits to students’.