Police University College (Finland)

The Police University College (Finnish: Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu (Polamk), Swedish: Polisyrkeshögskolan) is a university of applied sciences in Tampere, Finland providing police academy training and research under the Ministry of the Interior for the Police of Finland and other Finnish law enforcement units.

Police University College
Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu
Polisyrkeshögskolan
The sword and lion emblem is the symbol of the Police of Finland
Former names
  • Police Academy
  • Police Course Centre
  • National Police School
  • Police College of Finland
TypePublic
Established1918 (1918)
Parent institution
National Police Board under the Ministry of the Interior
Budget€26 million (2016)[1]
DirectorKimmo Himberg
Academic staff
Around 100 (2016)[2]
Administrative staff
Around 100 (2016)[2]
Students7,000 including short-time training courses (2016)[2]
Location
Tampere
,
Finland

61.452643°N 23.852781°E / 61.452643; 23.852781
CampusSuburb
21 ha
Websitepolamk.fi

History
An entrance to the Police University College campus in Hervanta, Tampere, pictured in 2009

The institute was established in 1918 as a temporary police training school by the Helsinki Police Department.[3] It operated as the Police Academy in various parts of the Greater Helsinki area, such as Espoo and the Suomenlinna fortress, until 1974 when the academy's Police Course Centre was transferred to Tampere. In 1986, the Police Course Centre became an independent unit, the National Police School, and moved to its current campus in the Hervanta suburb of Tampere in 1993—while the Police Academy continued in Espoo and was renamed as the Police College of Finland in 1998.[4]

In 2008, the Police College of Finland and the National Police School were merged to become the sole police training institute in Finland and concentrated to the Hervanta campus. The institution continued under the name Police College of Finland until it was reorganized as a university of applied sciences and its name amended to Police University College in 2014.[4][5]

Education

The Police University College is responsible for overall police training and student selection, for organizing degree and advanced studies, and for applied research and development in the police field. The institution is under the guidance of the National Police Board and ultimately the Interior Ministry.[6][7][8] It provides a bachelor's and a master's degree in police services and specialized courses, such as driver's courses and an executive MBA in policing. Furthermore, the institution publishes targeted research on police matters, such as analysis on hate crime.[4][9][2]

All new police officers in Finland graduate from the institute and the bachelor's degree is considered a basic degree for law enforcement duties with training available in both Finnish and Swedish. In 2016, 132 police officers graduated from degree programmes and 6,100 people attended training outside the degree programmes offered by the University College.[1][2] Likewise in 2016, the college received 4,318 applications for the bachelor's degree programme's intake of 300 students—an admittance rate of 7.0%.[10]

Organization and campus

The University College employed 209 personnel, half of whom are teaching staff and 40% police officers, at the end of 2016.[1][2] Doctor of Laws Marko Viitanen has been the director since October 2016.[11] The organization of the academy is divided vertically into seven competency areas under the director as of 2017:[7]

  • General Skills
  • Special Skills
  • Operational Skills
  • Police Dog Operations
  • Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI)
  • Student Services
  • Administration

The 21 hectare campus of the Police University College is located in the Hervanta suburb, eight kilometres from the centre of Tampere. Besides teaching, sports and dormitory facilities, the campus contains a simulation training city and a driver training track.[12] Two separate installations, the police dog training centre in Hämeenlinna and the driver training centre in Pieksämäki, are also a part of the academy's structure.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Pocket Statistics 2016". Police University College. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  2. "Police University College Brochure" (PDF). Police University College. 2016-08-01. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-03-02.
  3. "Poliisi - History". www.polamk.fi. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  4. "About the University College". Police University College. Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  5. "Poliisikoulutus vuoden kuluttua amk-aikaan - opiskelijoilta pois ilmainen ruokailu ja majoitus" [Police training will transform into applied sciences - cost-free lodging and meals taken from students]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2013-08-14. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  6. "Agencies and responsibilities". Ministry of Interior. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  7. "Rules of Procedure of the Police University College of Finland" (PDF). Police University College. 2017-06-15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  8. "Laki Poliisiammattikorkeakoulusta 1164/2013" [Act on the Police University College 1164/2013]. Finlex (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  9. Teivainen, Aleksi (2017-11-01). "Finnish police record 14% drop in number of hate crime reports". Helsinki Times. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  10. "Poliisiopinnot kiinnostavat entistä enemmän – hakijamäärä kasvoi yli 50 prosenttilla" [Police studies create interest more than before – number of applicants increased over 50 percent]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2016-04-25. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  11. "Poliisiammattikorkeakouluun määräaikainen rehtori sisäministeriön poliisiosastolta". Keskisuomalainen (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  12. Sivunen, Pia (2016-09-29). "Tulevat poliisit harjoittelevat kulissikaupungissa" [Police trainees practice in a set piece city]. Radio Moreeni. Archived from the original on 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
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