Education First group of students complete the ‘Surveillance and Protection’ special enforcement officer course Written on Friday, September 13, 2024 After 33 weeks of training, the first group of students have completed the ‘Surveillance and Protection’ special enforcement officer course in Leusden. Last week eight students carried out their final assignment at the Netherlands Police Academy. In this final exercise, students had to demonstrate that they could correctly apply in practice the knowledge and skills they had learned. Several senior officers from regional units were present. Together with the teachers they watched and checked whether the students mastered the skills to a sufficient degree, to ensure that they were fit and ready to start with the job. Different learning objectives Various learning objectives were addressed during the final assignment, such as use of the legal framework, the use of force and use of firearms. The students completed their final assignment successfully. Now they will be able to apply these elements in the street. Not only the students learned a great deal during this course and the final exercise; the teachers also picked up some points of improvement to help develop this course. The Netherlands Police Academy has developed or updated six special enforcement officer courses in the past year Surveillance and Protection is one of these courses. One or more classes of each course have now started, more than thirty in total. The Netherlands Police Academy developed a curriculum for each discipline. Students who complete a special enforcement officer course are authorised to carry out a specific task and to wear a police uniform. Ready for the job sooner Reforming the courses has enabled us to use our training capabilities better. It ensures that our new colleagues are ready for the job sooner. In addition to the eight students in the Surveillance and Protection course, there are four classes that have completed the Intake & Service course, and three classes that have finished Camera and Surveillance training. At the same time, dozens of colleagues whose jobs require them to bear firearms have been authorised to do so, while others have completed their driving courses.