Christiaan Barnard - from Criminologist to Cop
The theories of criminology mixed with the skills of policing have given detective constable Christiaan Barnard an edge in his career. As a university criminology tutor, his skills from the police give him a practical, inside knowledge, while theories learnt in criminology studies help him when dealing with offenders in his day to day job as a detective constable.
At the youthful age of 14, Christiaan had already decided that he wanted to be a police constable, after hearing a police youth education officer speak at his school. “I kept that as a goal,” he says. But first he wanted to fulfill another goal - the desire to go to university.
Immediately after high school, Christiaan enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington, where he studied criminology through to honours level.
He now tutors second-year Victoria University criminology students on a paper in police culture and police accountability, and has also delivered criminology lectures.
“I guess I’m not that worldly,” he says of his transition from the institution of school, straight into university and then into the police force. But the practical realities of being a police constable have added to his abilities as a tutor. Christiaan says there is “often a criticism of the academic community (that they) don’t have first-hand experience” of things they are lecturing on. But unlike some academics, “I’ve spent some time at the coalface,” he says. The side of things he has seen in the police force can help give his students a realistic angle on what they are studying. “I think they do benefit,” he says. “I can see through the bollocks…about certain issues,” he says, which means he can pull them up if they are not being very fair or balanced. “I try to make them more critical in their thinking.” He doesn’t tell his students that he is a cop, but “they tend to figure it out”, he says. He says the response of the students when they discover his other job is often mainly: “geez man, how can you do it, where do you find the time?” he says.
Christiaan is now studying again himself, this time to become a detective. He has about one more year to go until he becomes qualified.
In his own work as a detective constable, Christiaan says the Bachelor of Arts traits of critical thinking and writing skills have been valuable. On a purely practical level, Christiaan says his years of study helped him to be “a bit more prepared for the paperwork in the police.” But that critical thinking and learned insight into the criminal mind has given him “a greater appreciation of why people behave like they do. That helps me to be able to communicate with people a bit better,” he says.
He feels this understanding and ability to relate makes offenders “more likely to speak to you”, and therefore more likely to open up and hopefully confess, he says. Regardless of how heinous the crime is they might have committed, Christiaan says treating an offender like a person is more likely to bring success in reaching solutions.