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Reference

Police training institutions

Bodies that train police officers — who runs each one, what kind of training it provides, whether it awards degrees, and the official source each fact was checked against.

These bodies train police officers. With one exception, none of them recruits them — an application to join a police service goes to the service, and where each system publishes its joining information is a separate question with a separate answer.

The word “academy” does not travel well, which is why it is not in the name of this page. Germany’s police university teaches nobody at entry and exists for a master’s degree taken mid-career; Denmark’s police school is where a career begins; Norway’s college teaches more continuing students than new ones. Each page says which kind of institution it is describing rather than assuming a reader already knows.

Whether any of this leads to an academic qualification is a different question again, and it is answered in does police training lead to a degree?

Browse by system

12 institutions across 12 systems, grouped by the system each belongs to.

Austria

Sicherheitsakademie (SIAK)
Austria’s statutory education and research body for the staff of the Federal Ministry of the Interior — a training institution whose existence is written into a policing act.

Brazil

Academia Nacional de Polícia (ANP)
The Brazilian Federal Police’s own academy in Brasília, described by the force as the entry point into the Polícia Federal.

Denmark

Politiskolen
The Danish police’s own school, delivering the police educations from two named education centres.

European Union

CEPOL (CEPOL)
The European Union’s law-enforcement training agency, which trains across borders rather than for any one member state’s service.

Finland

Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu
Finland’s Police University College, which the police lists among its own national units rather than as an external provider.

Germany

Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei (DHPol)
A specialised state university for serving police officers from across Germany, whose central task is a two-year master’s degree taken mid-career rather than any entry training.

Latvia

Valsts policijas koledža
Latvia’s police college, subordinate to the State Police, and a member of a consortium that deliberately did not become a university.

Netherlands

Politieacademie
The education and knowledge institute for the Netherlands police — inside the service and, at the same time, an independent administrative body that sets its own policy.

Norway

Politihøgskolen
The Norwegian police’s own education institution, whose stated mission joins teaching, research and dissemination rather than teaching alone.

Singapore

Home Team Academy (HTA)
Singapore’s central training academy for the Home Team, serving several departments rather than the police alone.

Switzerland

Institut Suisse de Police (ISP)
Switzerland’s police institute, governed by a foundation council built to hold the country’s three main language regions in balance.

United States

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC)
The shared training organisation for United States federal law enforcement, built to end each agency training its own people separately.