Professional training of police officers under conditions of contemporary challenges

Abstract

Abstract: The article is devoted to the actual issue of police education and training that is the foundation of an effective domestic security and safety system. Since crime has become more complex, threats have increased, and policing also involves constant community interaction, the role and training of police in democratic societies have been significantly important. The purpose is to analyze the contemporary trends and challenges of police service and connecting with them changes and peculiarities of police training; to summarize the main principles, the most effective educational methods and training technologies of police training under the current conditions; to analyze knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to police for successful police-public interactions. Methods. The study has used the methods of comparative and deferential analysis of contemporary state of police education and training, generalization of the base training principles, the theoretical analysis of the literary sources and the study of experience of practical realization of the researched issue. Results. Proper police training is crucial for ensuring that officers understand their role in law society, effectively resolve social conflicts and extreme situations, and maintain public trust. New and more complex challenges the police face (contemporary strategies for crime combating and prevention, new advanced technologies and equipment, etc.) affect the key principles of police training, namely: adherence to high professional standards, responsibility, honesty and impartiality, ethical and minimal use-of-force and others. Effective training methods and strategies, such as problem-based and practical-oriented ones, systematic and experiential approaches, realistic simulations and real-life scenarios, adaptability methodology allow forming decision-making skills, creative thinking, and interpersonal communication skills of police officers. Conclusions. Highly educated and quality trained police officers are able to solve problems effectively and make decisions, think creatively and interact with the public, reveal respect and impartiality, in addition to traditional tactical- combat skills, strict discipline, etc. Police training and activities based on respect for human rights, legal knowledge and justice, methods of conflicts de-escalation and the reasonable use-of-force policies are also of crucial importance. The new Ukrainian police established in 2014 are going currently through a difficult but important stage of reforms and formation using the best international experience.