Research Scientific conference 2024: research-based learning Written on Friday, October 11, 2024 The central theme of the 2024 scientific conference that took place yesterday was the exchange of knowledge about research-based learning. Policymakers from the Netherlands Police and the Ministry of Justice and Security gathered at the Netherlands Police Academy in Apeldoorn. They were joined by researchers from the Netherlands Police Academy and other research institutes. The ministry, the police and the Netherlands Police Academy aim to be learning organisations. This ambition requires insights into how their employees can learn and innovate. An important aspect of this is that researchers must be enabled to meet and exchange knowledge. That is why many researchers from outside the Netherlands Police Academy attend the scientific conference every year. The Netherlands Police Academy works closely together with these researchers on practice-oriented police research. Research-based learning Jolanda Botke works for the Netherlands Police Academy as a researcher and was one of the keynote speakers at the conference. After the opening, she introduced her research into learning within the police through on-the-job learning. Later that day, the second keynote speaker, Catrien Bijleveld, addressed the topic of research-based learning. The conference is aimed at researchers working at, with or for the police. Lecturer Jurjen Jansen and his colleagues, for instance, presented the preliminary findings of their action research into local police approaches to online crime. Researcher Wendy Schreurs and lecturer Wouter Stol gave a workshop on the use of information and the role of intelligence in emergency assistance. Policing in remote areas In the atrium, it was possible to talk to researchers involved in a research project on policing in remote areas: ‘politiewerk in verre uithoeken’. This action research was initiated by the Local Policing Centre of Knowledge. Various remote areas were indicated on a large map, in combination with the specific challenges and problems on which the research will focus in each area. New and talented researchers The programme also featured new and talented researchers, like Charlotte Roelofs. She told the audience about her PhD research into assistance dogs that accompany police officers and former police officers suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Robin Kranendonk en Frank Klein Hofmeijer presented their research on how to recognise moderate mental disabilities in suspects who are brought in for police questioning. Platform for scholars This year, the seventh consecutive scientific conference took place. Edwin Bakker, Knowledge and Research advisor at the Netherlands Police Academy talked about the added value of the conference. ‘We want to offer scholars from within and outside the Netherlands Police Academy a platform for thinking about ways to boost the necessary learning within the police, both individually and collectively. That was this year’s central theme.’