Tutor Spotlight: Mark O’Callaghan

Our tutors form the foundation of Police Crime Prevention Academy, delivering expert advice that supports candidates in reducing crime to ultimately make communities safer.

In this blog, we talk to tutor and assessor Mark O’Callaghan, which provides an insight into his history, what he enjoys most about working at the Academy and the impact these courses have on public and private sectors.

Who is Mark O’Callaghan?

Prior to joining the Academy in June 2018, Mark served for over 30 years in the Metropolitan Police Service, primarily as a specialist crime prevention and designing out crime practitioner. As a dedicated problem-solving advisor within Westminster, Mark was instrumental in supporting neighbourhood teams and local authority partners to implement problem-solving initiatives throughout the borough.

Equipped with an honours degree in Law from Liverpool University, alongside qualifications in training, workplace assessment and internal quality assurance, Mark has applied his unique skillset to the Academy for over 7 years. As well as being occupationally competent, Mark keeps himself current through continuing professional development, which expands his experience and training abilities further.

Role within the Academy

After retiring from the police service, Mark joined the academy as a Tutor. From there, his role has evolved into Tutor, Assessor and Internal Quality Assurance of candidate’s submissions, with the intended impact of enhancing the quality of the training provided to both the police service and other professional partners.

Mark performs a crucial role in the production and delivery of various training for a range of professional job roles, namely the Level 3 NVQ Strategic Problem Solving and the Level 3 NVQ Prevention of Extremism & Terrorism.

Impact of Academy training

“I genuinely feel the Academy provides the best crime prevention and designing out crime training of any organisation in the country” states Mark, thanks to the on-going support candidates receive after the classroom phase, in addition to the abundance of practical experience possessed by the tutors.

As a small team, the Academy is also able to act in an agile manner, providing both a flexible yet personal service to candidates. Furthermore, its team-oriented nature helps to foster a strong sense of camaraderie, “where everyone helps each other to provide the best service possible” – another reason that the Academy is so successful at retaining repeat business.

A rewarding career

Working at the Academy is a fulfilling experience for a plethora of reasons, says Mark, like meeting candidates face-to-face and exchanging knowledge as well as experiences all about crime prevention practices.

He mentions that it’s particularly rewarding to hear the tangible difference his courses have made in enhancing candidates’ understanding – “the volume of appreciation e-mails I receive around the training and support I’ve provided is a very enjoyable and motivational aspect of the role”.

Take-aways for Academy students

Mark O’Callaghan is just one of several enthusiastic and passionate tutors at the Academy, all of whom are here to support you in expanding your skillset.

Reach out to us today to learn how the Academy can help you in obtaining additional qualifications or alternatively, how we can help your organisation with tailored training courses that strengthen your team members’ knowledge.

Remember – learning is a lifelong process.