NCJ Number
223223
Date Published
2008
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines in more detail the teaching and training process of three Central European Police Academy countries: France, Germany, and Switzerland and one Asian country, Japan and considers the education and training of the public police from a rule of law perspective, in terms of trainee selection, the background philosophy of training, general organization, and curriculum.
Abstract
To summarize the findings, all four countries have an increasing emphasis on community in their training. In terms of recruitment, it is important to have recruits that agree with rule of law messages. This may be possible via psychological testing (Switzerland) or greater academic emphasis (France and Japan). A better understanding of minority issues and rule of law application may be possible simply by recruiting more from minority groups (Germany). Across the four countries there appear to be three distinct training philosophies: the law and democracy (Germany); community and citizen involvement (Japan and Switzerland); and human rights and multiculturalism (France). Rule of law messages are apparent in all three approaches. Where the four countries appear to be heading in the right direction is in their increased professionalism and work to make the police more representative. Professionalism is important in order to improve or maintain public confidence. The quality of training and education that officers receive is central to this. This chapter considers the education and training of the public police from a rule of law perspective, in terms of trainee selection, the background philosophy of training, general organization, and curriculum. It draws largely from a series of interviews, observations, and conversations conducted by one of the authors between 1998 and 2001 in each of the four countries Japan, France, Switzerland, and Germany) and supplemented by evidence from the research literature. References