OID: E10053389 - Hochschule der Polizei Rheinland-Pfalz

Type of Organization: Higher education institution (tertiary level)

Background and Experience

According to the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany police is a matter of the federal states. Tasks and powers the police force of Rhineland-Palatinate are primarily regulated by state police law and legal regulations. The Rhineland-Palatinate Police University is an institution without legal capacity under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior and Sport of Rhineland-Palatinate. This makes it an authority alongside 6 police headquarters and the State Office of Criminal Investigation.

The legal basis for the work of the Police University is the law governing public administration academies (Verwaltungsfachhochschulgesetz (VFHG)) of 1981 as last amended on 2 March 2017. The Rhineland-Palatinate Police University is in charge of training and further education of the police force in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The training of police officers is done within the framework of a three year Bachelor study programme on the basis of the training and examination regulations ruling the access to police service within the higher intermediate civil service (APOLPoL-E3) which was adopted on 4 May 2016.

As part of quality assurance, the Police University’s Bachelor's study course is regularly accredited by the state. The last accreditation took place in September 2013, the next accreditation will take place in September 2020. Upon successful completion of the studies, the university awards the academic degree "Bachelor of Arts". The university graduates are employed as 2nd Lieutenant in the police service.

The Police University selects the students in a two-day selection process. This was developed by police psychologists according to criteria of aptitude diagnostics and is regularly checked and modified.

The study at the Police University takes place on three campuses: at campus Hahn, in Enkenbach-Alsenborn and in Wittlich-Wengerohr. It comprises 12 modules and is divided into 375 days of theoretical studies at the university and 300 days of practical training at police stations. The theoretical parts of the course are taught in lecture halls. The focus is on competences in law, social sciences, police science, media, English as well as sports and shooting and operational techniques.

The Police University promotes international cooperation in the course of studies. In 2019, 80 students and lecturers from Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania were guests at the Police University. This International Project Week focuses on the exchange of information on police topics in a European atmosphere and the practical experience of interculturality. In addition, 122 students of the Police Universtiy 2019 took the opportunity to do an internship abroad at a foreign police school or police station in Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.

The practical parts such as trainings are carried out in the training and examination center, on the driving training facility and in shooting and operational training centers. This includes defence and assault training, crime scene work and dactyloscopy. A library with about 32,000 media is available to students for studies. The internships (300 days) are conducted at police stations in Rhineland-Palatinate. The Police University regularly contacts the police stations where the internships take place in order to assure quality. The Bachelor study course stands for a generalist training and qualifies the student to work as a police officer on patrol duty. In 2020 almost 1500 students are studying at the Police University, one third of them being women.

The Police University is also responsible for the further education of police officers, including general further education and specialist training. It also provides further education for the judiciary and other security organizations. In 2019, 479 seminars on 256 seminar topics were held for 6505 participants.

Around 400 staff are employed at the Police University, including police officers, scientists from various fields, IT personnel and administrative staff.

In 1981, the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate established a public administration academy with two departments: "Police" and "General Public Administration". In 2015 the two departments separated and the "Police" department became the Rhineland-Palatinate Police University (HdP). The Police University, with its predecessor organization, therefore has almost 40 years of experience in the training and further education of police officers. The quality of the University was confirmed in two state accreditations (2008 and 2013).The Police University thus fulfils the requirements for a university according to Bologna standards.

The Police University will involve experts from various disciplines in the project. The project will be managed by two experienced senior police officers (higher civil service). The project officer is an experienced police officer with 23 years of professional experience. He was head of the police operations staff at a regional headquarter and in 2011 he obtained the academic degree Master of Arts of the Master study course "Public Administration-Police Management" of the German Police University in Münster. He currently heads the study area „operations and computer science“ at HdP and teaches on that subject within the framework of the Bachelor study course. He is also in charge of one of the decentralized modules of the joined Master study course „Public Administration-Police Management“ at the German Police University.

The Rhineland-Palatinate Police University is the first police educational institution in Germany to use virtual reality during the studies and in and further education. The project officer is responsible for the development of this area. In virtual scenarios, students and participants in further education train to make professional decisions according to the situation and to adapt their (virtual) behavior accordingly. On behalf of the Police University, the project officer has applied for the KISKIN project on artificial intelligence for the security of critical infrastructures. This is a collaborative research project within the framework of the funding programme on artificial intelligence in civil security research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The Technical University in Munich is responsible for coordinating the collaborative research.

The project officer also has international project experience. He represented the Police University from 2017 to 2020 during the German-French research project "Organized Pedestrian Movement in Public Spaces" (OPMoPS) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the French Agence nationale de la recherche. The project extension has been applied for and will probably be granted until 31 May 2021.

The implementation officer has 42 years of professional experience. He has been a member of the top management level of the police force (higher civil service) since 1995. Since 2008, he has been head of the internship department at the university (Bereich „Berufspraktische Studien“) and is thus responsible for the internships in the Bachelor study course. Together with his team, he designs the training of the tutors, organises its implementation and monitors the quality of the internships. He acts as a single point of contact for the police stations. In addition, he teaches "traffic theory" at the university as a lecturer

The financial officer has a degree in administration and has been head of the budget unit at the Police University since 2016. He is responsible for the university’s overall budget of €45,370,000 (2019). He has experience in financial project management. He is responsible for the financial management of the project "Organized Pedestrian Movement in Public Spaces" (OPMoPS) with a budget of €325,000.

The international coordinator brings organization and language skills into the project. In 2012 she obtained the academic degree Master of Arts in conference interpreting (DE-FR-EN). Between 2012 and 2015 she worked as conference interpreter and translator at the International Commissions for the Protection of the Moselle and the Saar, where she was not only interpreting and translating but also supporting the Commissions’ secretary before, during and after working sessions (setting up agendas, preparing documents for meetings, writing minutes). Since 2018 she works as international relations officer at HdP and is in charge of keeping relations with foreign police training institutions (mutual visits, conferences, daily correspondence) and is responsible for exchange programs (CEPOL, Erasmus+).

This team is completed by a psychologist who holds an PhD–degree in assessment diagnostic and social scientists who, as experts, will check the requirements for tutors and work together with police officers on the qualification standards for tutors.IT experts and an educational scientist work in teams on the design and the educational quality standard of the digital and analogue output