A work surveying the century-long history of police training Muodollisesti pätevä? Poliisikoulutus itsenäisessä Suomessa (Formally Qualified? Police training in independent Finland) was published on Friday 7 September at the Police University College. This unique work casts a new perspective on the history of police training as part of a changing society.
In the early days, police training was neither comprehensive nor systematic; people followed various paths into law enforcement duties, including as raw recruits. Police training courses were initially short and focused solely on the minimum required skills. It was only in the 1960s that training began to be arranged more systematically and coordinated with other education. Training periods lengthened and the training content became more diverse.
“We have come a long way from the days when students simply sat and listened to an instructor lecturing: the police are now expected to have analytical reasoning and problem-solving skills. Training provides the tools that the police must apply in various situations and based on which they can develop their activities. Of course, modern training also has some of the same elements as in the early days, such as instruction on the use of force,” says Kimmo Himberg , Director of the Police University College.
“The historical study shows that police training has never stood still. It teaches us that police training must continue to develop in line with changes in society, law, technology, and many other factors in the environment in which police officers operate.”
A history of police training in light of various themes
Muodollisesti pätevä? Poliisikoulutus itsenäisessä Suomessa was written by legal history researchers at the University of Helsinki. It casts light on the history of police training on the basis of a number of themes. Among other subjects, the book discusses the admission of women to police training.
“The new book is an important study that sheds new light on the history of police training from a number of previously unexplored perspectives. The articles in the book are united in a manner familiar from symphonic composition: the themes vary but are all explored through the same questions,” says Professor Jukka Kekkonen of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki.
» Download the history book Muodollisesti pätevä? Poliisikoulutus itsenäisessä Suomessa (available only in Finnish)
» More about the history of police training on the Police Museum website in Finnish (also forthcoming in English)
