Take a closer look at our police training
POLICE TRAINING
Setting your sights on becoming a police officer!
Some people decide what they want to do when they’re little, while the idea takes a little time to grow on others. Police training tempts a large and varied gang of people. Most people who apply for places have managed to get a few years of experience of the world of work under their belts, and many of them have already studied at college and/or university.The Swedish National Police Academy has around 1000 students, all with their own unique experiences of life. The average age of our students is around 26, although we have students up to the age of 40 too.
Almost half of all police students are female. Diversity is important to the development of the Swedish National Police Academy, and we need students with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. At present, around 15 per cent of our police training students have an immigrant background.
Becoming a police officer
Foto: Magnus Westerborn Foto: Ragnar Lilliestierna
What do I need to apply for the police training course?
You can apply for police training twice a year, on 15 March and 15 September. Applications are submitted electronically on the Swedish National Police Academy website:
www.polishogskolan.se
To be suitable to apply for police training, you also need the basic qualifications for college studies. You also need special qualifications in the following subjects, and you must have achieved a grade of 3 or a pass grade:
• Swedish B • History A • Social studies A • University entrance test or 20 points from college studies Other requirements: • Swedish citizenship • Be a suitable, potential police officer (personal qualities and law-abiding) • Be at least 20 years old in the admission year • Hold a driving licence (cars) • Have normal physical abilities, i.e. not suffer from chronic diseases or have any strain injuries (repetitive or otherwise) which would impede you in doing your duty as a police officer • Be able to swim • Have vision of at least 0.1 in each eye (uncorrected). Applicants with sight correction must also have vision of at least 0.8 in each eye. • Not be colour blind • Have satisfactory hearing
- I was 22 when I applied for the first time, but I didn’t get in even though I passed all the tests. I applied a few times after that, but I still couldn’t get in. It was frustrating. When I called the recruitment department and asked why that was, they told me I could make myself more competitive by studying at college. So I did! I registered with Lund University and started reading behavioural science and political science. But I still had my sights set on training for the police – and when I applied for the fifth time, I got in! With hindsight, I can see the advantages of having not got in when I was 22. The experience I gained in the interim is very valuable to me now. Tord, Term 1
15
th
march
&
september
You can currently train for the police force at the Swedish National Police Academy in Solna or at university in Växjö or Umeå. The police training course has also been available as a distance learning course since 2002.Anyone applying to become a police officer will be assessed on the basis of their personality, among other things. We’re looking for people who are broadminded, tolerant, honest, service-minded, at peace with themselves and able to withstand stress. We also want our applicants to have a healthy lifestyle, with a good understanding of the law and a stable mental state.
The police training course has undergone lots of changes
over the years and been adapted to suit the requirements
encountered by modern police officers in their day to day work.
Police training takes two and a half years to complete. The first four terms are spent at the Swedish National Police Academy, while the last is a practical session which students complete working for one of the police authorities.
This course is founded on problem-based learning and “learning through doing”. Reflection and problem solving – either individually or in groups of varying sizes – are important elements of the course.
Distance learning courses
Anyone can apply to train on one of our distance learning courses, as long as they meet the relevant requirements and that the course is running at the location/police authority for which the applicant wishes to apply. The authorities participating in our distance learning courses vary.
Studying on one of our distance learning courses means that you can complete most of your course from your home town. Some parts of your course will have to be completed at the Swedish National Police Academy itself. Also, as a student you’ll be affiliated to a police authority, and you’ll also complete some of the practical elements of your course there under the guidance of tutors/police officers. You’ll also be affiliated to what’s known as a training centre, which we have in a number of study locations. Training centres offer access to computers and other technology, and act as a place where students can meet up and also talk to tutors.
Veronica Utterström is 31 and lives in Kalix. Her small son Hugo was born not long ago. Her family and training in all its forms are important to her. Veronica has been following a distance learning course for a number of months now, and this allows her to carry on living in Norrbotten, just the way she wants to.
Remote police officer
- I knew what I was getting myself into because I’ve already done a distance learning course. I’ve trained to be a nurse, and I did that course remotely as well. This model is ideal for me, but you have to be prepared for the enormous discipline and the amount of responsibility you have to take for your own learning.
- On the police training course, classes on hate crimes, for example, might start off with a videoconference. Then I meet up with my course colleagues – we’ve formed a little working group, those of us from the same region. We often meet up at a training centre, because we have access to computers and a library there.
Our distance learning courses include the same content and are the same length as our regular courses.
The link with police operations is made early on in the course by allowing students to work on police cases. The idea behind this is to link together theory and practice and to integrate the various subjects as much as possible.
Students on the police training course have to take a lot of responsibility for their own learning. The main task of our tutors is to provide guidance for students on the course. They have to entice students to seek out new knowledge and provide feedback on their performance.
Students are recruited for distance learning courses in the usual way.
Students
- We do loads of sports and working out in our free time. We get people together to play football or hockey and stuff. But I enjoy going to museums as well, and making the most of all the culture available in the Stockholm region. And the student bar on campus is a pretty cool place to be, too! Tord, Term 1
Extract f
rom the d
iary of a po
lice
academy s
tudent
Christoffer, TERM 2
Thursday, 19 October
05.30
“Come on, time to get up!” I don’
t understand why
I’m so tired in the mor
nings these days! Looks
like being a cool da
y at college, looking at the timetab le
anyway. The day kicks of
f with a lecture on firear ms and
basic national tactics.
After lunch we have a self-defence
session and finally a review of a case in P olicing.
07.00
The firearms lecture doesn’
t start until 08.00, b
ut it’s nice not
to have to stress out.
To my surprise, I find I’m not the onl y
one who likes to get out the door in plenty of time. Mick e,
one of the other students on the course, emer
ges out of the darkness
and keeps me compan
y while we change into our unifor
ms. It’s not all that long
ago that we were gi
ven our uniforms and our belts, and I ha
ve to admit I’m not
entirely comfortable yet with all the bits of it, lik
e the cap. We head of f to the
canteen for a coffee before the lecture star ts.
07.45
The first lecture of the da
y deals with the
tactics we should emplo
y when stopping a
vehicle. To get as much as possib le out of
the lecture, we work in basic g
roups of six.
We go and get two cars, a police car and an ordinary one, that w
e’re going to use
- The atmosphere at the Swedish National Police Academy is brilliant! I’ve made loads of new friends and enjoy their company at the college. I suppose it’s like being part of a team. We all help each other out and listen to one another. I found other students to be a lot more competitive with one another on previous courses I’ve completed.
Natalie, Term 2
Extract f
rom the d
iary of a po
lice
academy s
tudent
Christoffer, TERM 2
Thursday, 19 October
05.30
“Come on, time to get up!” I don’
t understand why
I’m so tired in the mor
nings these days! Looks
like being a cool da
y at college, looking at the timetab le
anyway. The day kicks of
f with a lecture on firear ms and
basic national tactics.
After lunch we have a self-defence
session and finally a review of a case in P olicing.
07.00
The firearms lecture doesn’
t start until 08.00, b
ut it’s nice not
to have to stress out.
To my surprise, I find I’m not the onl y
one who likes to get out the door in plenty of time. Mick e,
one of the other students on the course, emer
ges out of the darkness
and keeps me compan
y while we change into our unifor
ms. It’s not all that long
ago that we were gi
ven our uniforms and our belts, and I ha
ve to admit I’m not
entirely comfortable yet with all the bits of it, lik
e the cap. We head of f to the
canteen for a coffee before the lecture star ts.
07.45
The first lecture of the da
y deals with the
tactics we should emplo
y when stopping a
vehicle. To get as much as possib le out of
the lecture, we work in basic g
roups of six.
We go and get two cars, a police car and an ordinary one, that w
e’re going to use
during the exercise.
08.20
We sign out our firear
ms and run through the theor y
on what we should bear in mind throughout the day’s exercise. We have to tr
y to maintain control at
all times, and we discuss w
hat “control” actuall y
involves.
10.00
The exercise goes w
ell and everything goes according to
plan. We practise stopping a car and checking the dri
ver’s licence
safely. We also breath-test the dri
ver. After we’ve practised for a
while, our tutor suddenl
y moves the goalposts. No
w the people
in the car have been transfor
med into known
criminals who robbed a shop a fe
w minutes
earlier. The exercise all gets a bit more complicated from this point on, and e
ven
though it’s just an e
xercise I can feel m y heart
rate quicken.
13.00
Time for self-defence. Nor
mally this class
consists of about 2 hours of lear
ning and
practising different grips and defensi ve
strategies for dealing with of
fenders. We also work
on mental preparation.
Today, we had our first lesson on ho
w to handle and use
a baton.
15.00
We’re doing a course element all about dr
ugs at the moment. Before toda y’s
class, we had to work on the basis of material w
e’d been given to try to w ork out
what we’d do in an imaginar
y scenario. In this case, it w
as all about a girl w ho
smoked hash at a par
ty. We had to think about things lik
e what the symptoms
of hash smoking are, do w
e have the right
to take the girl down to the station, do w e
have to take everybody at the par ty down
to the station – stuf
f like that.
This course is probab
ly one of the most
interesting and fun courses I’
ve ever done.
Contact with students is really stimulating
- My job is to try to give students a good foundation for their futures in the police force. I want them to enhance their self-knowledge, and I want them to understand the challenges and difficulties they’ll face in the police force. Hopefully, our discussions can give students an insight into and understanding of how important their actions and how they deal with people are. The use of force and violence often provides us with starting points for the discussions we hold on ethics.
Anita Westerman, police tutor
The police training course is based on theory with practical elements. This means that most of the time on the course is devoted to theoretical studies. But of course, students also get to do practical exercises, go on study visits and talk to the many authorities and organisations which the police work with.
Students at the Swedish National Police Academy must be equipped in the most effective way possible to deal with the various challenges they’ll face as police officers. Choosing the police force means choosing a career that makes enormous demands on how you behave with other people, and that requires the ability to make independent, critical assessments. It’s important for students on the police training course to take on board all the knowledge and skills they’ll need to be able to do their jobs as police officers independently in the complex society of today.
The police training course should lay the foundation for critical thinking, encouraging students to seek and evaluate knowledge at a scientific level. The intention is for newly qualified students to be able to monitor relevant knowledge development in society, and in the long term also to be able to enhance their professional skills to the benefit of the entire police force.
Students on the police training course must assimilate a knowledge of Sweden’s legal system and the values on which democracy is based. Students also have to learn how to apply the laws as required for their jobs as police officers. Communication is one of the most important tools available to any police officer. During training, students have to practise communicating on the basis of the demands made of them in various situations.
“Police knowledge” is at the very heart of the police training course. The police training programme is divided into various sub-courses. The course begins with a basic course on law. The course becomes more difficult as it goes on, and Term 4 deals with the actions of the police during demonstrations and violence within close relationships. Students will learn how to drive a police car, handle firearms, give first aid, etc. as part of the course.
In a leafy green area near the capital
The Swedish National Police Academy is situated just to the north of Stockholm, in an area of outstanding natural beauty near Edsviken. The college employs almost 200 staff, both civilians and police officers. The Swedish National Police Academy runs both basic and further courses, as well as – to an extent – training on behalf of external clients.
Student life
The college campus has a modern library, classroom, group room and conference room. There are plenty of opportunities for working out, too. There’s a superb gym, a running track and sports facilities here. The students’ union at the Swedish National Police Academy arranges pub evenings, introductory courses, Christmas parties and other activities.
The Academy at Sörentorp
A career as a police officer offers variety
and plenty of challenges
- The police force has always interested me, because it involves working with people, there’s plenty of variety, and it’s an exciting job offering plenty of
opportunities for development. After I finished upper secondary school, the Swedish National Police Academy wasn’t taking on any new recruits. I wanted to gain a little experience, and so I trained as a social worker and worked in that field for a while. Social workers cooperate with the police a lot, and I gained a major insight into how the police work. So I really started to feel I wanted to join the police force. Now I’m into my third term at the Swedish National Police Academy, and I’m loving it! “The Serbian culture, language and tradition are all part of who I am. These bring new dimensions to my training, and I know that as part of the police force I’ll benefit from having a different ethnic origin to the people I work with in society, with everything that entails.
“I’m looking forward to becoming a fully fledged police officer, because it involves lots of different situations and encounters with people. I’ll have the opportunity to be active, to feel I’m really making a difference. I also hope to have plenty of opportunity to develop and gain new experience, because I want to develop both as a person and as a professional.
Violetta, Term 3
Foto: Christian Wedin
New dimensions to police training
I’m interested in specialising and would like to progress fur-ther in the police force. What should I do?
Just after qualifying, the vast ma-jority of people accepted to train as police officers work with their local police force and/or on emergency callouts. There’s a great need for more staff for both these areas.
After completing basic training, it’s up to each and every individual to seek to progress within the police force. There are plenty of oppor-tunities for skills development and further training. Further training takes place at the Swedish National Police Academy, locally with the police authorities and at specialist units such as the mounted police, the riot squad, etc.
The police force is offers variety and provides lots of different choices. As a police officer, you can do anything from pounding the beat to being part of UN peacekeeping squads.
The everyday work of police officers in Sweden is divided into two major elements: the police department in charge of law and order, and the criminal investigation department. The police work on preventing and investigating crime within these two departments. Providing a service to the general public is another important focus for the police.
Published by: Swedish National Police Academy, SE-170 82 Solna, Sweden Project manager: Annika Ulltin Text: Annika Ulltin Circulation: September 2007, 2 000 copies
Swedish National Police Academy
SE-170 82 Solna, Sweden
