Mon 24th October, 2011
Two professors from the University of Bedfordshire have made their second programme for BBC Radio 4 in the last three years and it is due to be broadcast on Wednesday, 26 October.
Called The No 1 Forensic Detective Agency, it is about policing in one of the most stable countries in Southern Africa, Botswana. The title is a nod to the popular stories by Alexander McCall-Smith, two of which are being broadcast on the network in November.
Jon Silverman, Professor of Media and Criminal Justice, will present the programme, which goes out at 11am, while Ivor Gaber, Professor of Media and Political Communications has produced it. Both work in the Division of Journalism and Communications within the Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science (CATS).
Jon, a former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, said: “It’s a fascinating story about a small country, with a population of under two million, which has invested a lot of money in developing world class training facilities for their police force. Now, they train police officers from all over Africa. To go from zero to all this in around 15 years is quite remarkable.”
Jon became aware of the story when he wrote an article about the work of the National Policing Improvement Agency in the UK. The NPIA runs a scientific support centre in County Durham and has trained detectives from Botswana in crime scene investigation skills.
Jon will also be presenting a dispatch for From Our Own Correspondent about Botswana on Radio 4 the weekend before (Saturday 22 October) the documentary is aired. The two Professors previously collaborated on a well-received documentary called “Gangs, Guns and Families” which was broadcast twice on Radio 4 in 2009.
Latest news» 2011» October» Professors to turn presenters on Radio 4
