The Centre of Knowledge People and the Police Organisation focuses on the Police Officer and the police organisation. We study human behaviour in the context of policing and its consequences for society.
Our studies and knowledge acquisition activities focus on professional resilience, integrity, and diversity. In our studies, we investigate the knowledge we require to be able to answer important police questions. Such knowledge allows us to bolster and renew the police profession, for example by providing advice on the best actions Police Officers can take in specific situations. We also consider how such knowledge is or can be used in police training. This centre of knowledge therefore links up police practice, training, and research.
Our knowledge services provide knowledge to police practise and police education
The Centre of Knowledge for People and the Police Organisation inter alia cooperates with:
Professional resilience means that someone can properly perform their job when faced with challenging situations. The Netherlands Police Academy studies what professional resilience means in the case of Police Officers and how officers can develop such resilience. We therefore study the biological, psychological, and moral aspects of resilience and also consider how they are interrelated. We for example study how officers can get to grips with unexpected situations.
Our aim for doing so is to use practical and exact knowledge to help increase resilience. Study results are for example used to:
"Diverse craftsmanship" means that Police Officers are able to properly perform their work within a diverse society. "Diversity" relates to variety and refers to the total mixture of differences between people. Such differences may be visible ones, like age, sex, skin colour, or physical impairments. But they can also be invisible, as applies to culture, sexual orientation, political beliefs, work talents, work capacity, or personality.
A Police Officer in the Netherlands has to deal with all these differences. Diversity also applies within the police organisation. Diverse professionalism means that Police Officers are able to work together with and learn from colleagues and citizens, but also that they recognise how differences between people lead to discrimination and that they treat everyone equally.
Our studies focus on how Police Officers deal with such differences. What should Police Officers be capable of in this connection? And how do we ensure that Police Officers feel safe within the organisation, that differences are allowed? We aim to use the knowledge we acquire to help realise the "police for everyone" objectives and to contribute to police training.
Citizens should expect Police Officers to perform their jobs honestly and in compliance with the law. Rules and limitations help Police Officers make honest and reliable choices.
We study what such rules and limitations mean to the Police Officers and how they impact their work. We also study how society experiences the way the police acts. We investigate the meaning of police integrity within various situations. Example research questions include: How does the Netherlands Police deal with officers who may not have performed their work in an ethically sound manner? When will the decision be made to conduct an internal investigation and what is the objective of such an investigation? What situations prejudice integrity by Police Officers? How does the Netherlands Police ensure that its officers work honestly and reliably? How do social developments impact the Netherlands Police's views on integrity?
By conducting our studies, we aim to build up knowledge on the subject. At the same time, we act as a sparring partner, in both training and practical settings.
Using the knowledge obtained from studies in practice is important, as it allows the Netherlands Police Academy to provide even better education to Police Officers. But how should this knowledge be used? What does and what does not work? How best to distribute this knowledge as part of police education? And how do Police Officers use what they learned during education in actual practice? By providing answers to these questions, we link up scientific research to the education setting, allowing us to improve the quality of the training.
Integrated lines have professionals from the research, practical, and education sectors all work together. As a centre of knowledge, we link up the research conducted by various fields of study and move towards trans-disciplinary research - research that has researchers from various fields of study work together with experts from professional practice. By sharing knowledge and research methods, all group members learn from each other, leading to new answers to research questions and creating a new field of study, focused on human individuals and the Netherlands Police. The field links up social sciences, exact sciences, and the study of law.
The main objective of setting up this integrated line is to better match up research questions and results, allowing us to better answer important questions by the Netherlands Police on how people function within society. We cooperate with the University of Humanistic Studies and Radboud University.
This Netherlands Police Academy website uses cookies to make the website work properly. And to analyze the use of the website. We do this completely anonymously. You agree to this when you click 'accept'. Do you click on 'decline'? Then the website will not place these cookies.
More information about the use of cookies on politieacademie.nl can be found in our cookie statement.