Defence Police College

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Defence Police College, Southwick Park

The Defence Police College (DPC) at Southwick Park, near Cosham, England, is a tri-service establishment for training the Service Police of the British Armed Forces (Royal Navy Regulating Branch, Royal Marines Police, Royal Military Police, and Royal Air Force Police).

It replaces Service Police training establishments at HMS Excellent, RMPTS Chichester and RAF Halton.

The site is owned by Defence Estates and is flagship-leased, which means that permission has to be asked by the Service Police to use the parade ground.

The Royal Military Police conduct Phase 2 training at the DPC for recruits who have passed Phase 1 at Army Training Regiment Winchester. The ATR concept equips recruits with the skills of basic soldiering and Infantry skills on Phase 1 before trade training takes place on Phase 2. In the case of the RMP this means that a newly qualified Lance-Corporal will have achieved their B3 trade qualification in General Police Duties (GPD).

RMP Training functions are split into;

Initial Training Squadron
- Initial Military Police Course
- Basic Provost Course
Advanced Training Squadron

All the Service Police organisations also use the Defence Police College for a variety of advanced qualification courses such as Investigations (from the Level 3 Investigators Course (L3IC) To Level 1), Crime Scene Management, IT (HOLMES, CRIMES, COPPERS, REDCAP systems).

As well as training Service Police personnel the base is home to the Service Police Crime Bureau, which is responsible amongst other things is use of the Police National Computer (PNC)