Shaping the Profile

The German Police University is a University addressing all senior police officers representing the Federation and the German Federal states. It provides the most important forum bringing together science and practice, and aimed at discussing matters of policing in Germany. The University stands for an open-minded, value-bound police, which is aware of its responsibilities in a democratic constitutional state, in the area of maintaining freedom, security and public order and safety. The German Police University integrates similarities and varieties of policing approaches in Germany, which are due to the federal structure of our country.

The core responsibility of the German Police University is to provide the German police services with first-class education and training opportunities for their senior police officers. The University does so by closely linking science and practical policing matters. Based on a sophisticated scientific foundation, the students' abilities and skills are being deepened and broadened. In this context, a particular focus is placed on their practical know-how and their outstanding professional skills. Training and further training courses are designed in a cross-sectional way beyond faculties and according to high profile methods of learning, which the German Police University constantly develops further on in an attempt to provide students with the best possible service. A number of modules in the master's course "Public Administration - Police Management" are being run in a decentralised way and - as a consequence - provide students with an optimum of curricular interlocking within the system of modular studies. In addition to this master's course, the German Police University conducts user-oriented, customised and state of the art further training courses. These cover topical subjects in the areas of security, crime strategies and police operational strategies. The University self-understanding is that of a national and international forum for discussion and reflection for the benefit of senior police officers. This professional development scheme enables the German police service to react to severe changes in society and to particular challenges relating to security and public order situations.

Pooling police-relevant approaches in order to establish police science as an independent academic field is one further major area of interest of the German Police University. It therefore shapes the academic discourse about police science in Germany. Police science is a cross-sectional academic field related to function, organisation and activities of the police service and has strong characteristics from social sciences, jurisprudence and business administration. In this context, the main research areas of the German Police University are on leadership and management, operational tactics, crime, road safety and law. Furthermore, it maintains the academic exchange with all relevant national research institutions and with the international scientific community. The University provides essential impacts on further improving police work in Germany and beyond German borders. It therefore seeks to run transfer- and third-party funded projects in practice. The Institute for Police Technology is in charge of the further development of police technologies.

The German Police University has emerged from the Polizei-Führungsakademie, which until a few years ago has been the central place for the professional training and further training of the German senior police service. The University will maintain the proven blend of academic staff and experienced senior police officers making inputs to education and research. The responsible bodies running the German Police University - the Federation and the German Federal states - are at the same time its stakeholders shaping and bringing in their own needs. They exercise their rights and fulfil their duties concerning the University via the Board of Trustees. Among the major traditional strengths are the facts that the University has been designed as a classical campus University, and that students share their policing experience and bring in their know-how to the Master's course.

As an internal University, the German Police University has a monopoly position for the training of senior police officers in Germany, yet it competes with the quality standards of comparable professional institutions in other countries.

It hopes to reach a top position in the international arena.
Seeking to be a centre of excellence, the German Police University

• is an international networking partner,
• cooperates at European level among the network of European police universities,
• makes the staff in the senior police service familiar with the international quality standards of police work,
• establishes Münster-Hiltrup as a 'brand' in the international community of policing.

The German Police University is located in the outskirts of one of the most attractive German university cities. Close contacts to other universities - in and out of Münster - are permanently maintained and broadened.

The German Police University achieves these goals by applying a clear quality culture. This includes in particular:

• an appointment policy (call) regarding the academia that is consequently oriented towards profile and strategy
• the continuous evaluation of education, training and services
• the evaluation of measurable parameters in research, transfer and further professional training
• the constant upgrading of administrative processes in an attempt to offer best practice in the fields of education and research.

The members of this organisation regard themselves as team players and cooperate closely and confidently with all responsible bodies.