Reflections on police education in higher law enforcement education requirements

Abstract

Looking back over 50 years of higher police education, we can observe significant milestones and changes in the professional content of training, mainly due to social developments. This paper analyses the consistency and compliance of the professional content of training with the requirements of the police and their effectiveness.

The study focuses on the remarks made by the Minister of the Interior at the training conference held on 26 October 2012, at which the tasks identified have been the tasks of the last almost 10 years. Prior to that, an equally important change in content was brought about by the change of regime in 1989, followed by the Police Act of 1974 and the 1974 Commission Decree, which defined the organisational structure of the police and the tasks and powers of its various bodies. The Faculty of Police Sciences, which was established in 2012 as the successor of the National University of Public Service and the College of Police, also had a significant impact on training. The 2015 Service Act and its accompanying decree regulating the status of students and creating the category of officer candidates have significantly improved the situation and learning conditions of the trainees. A final milestone was the launch of the doctoral programme in 2016, which brings law enforcement training as a whole into line with the Bologna requirements.

The professional requirements published in the legislation and formulated by the professional leaders were quickly reflected in the curricula and ensured that the professional requirements were applied in the officer training. This study analyses and evaluates this process.