3rd International Police Education Conference Workshop Series: International Perspectives of Policing in the pandemic – Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Lithuania.
(Ended 25th Oct 2021)
Online
25th Oct 2021 to 25th Oct 2021
This workshop will include the following presentations: –
‘Crime Prevention and the impact of Covid on Police Officer Education in Sweden’
This lecture will look at the move from onsite training into online training within hours, and how the students from the Swedish Police Authorities managed to complete their classes. Additionally, how the Swedish Police approached the situational crime prevention in a country with recommendations on social distancing and additional restrictions however no lockdown put in force.
‘The impact of Covid on Police Education in Finland’
A COVID-19 virus pandemic spread globally within months since early 2020, it has affected practically all societies and all sectors of life. Also, secondary and higher-level education has had to undergo dramatic changes. Finland took heavy steps to fight the epidemic: the government declared a state of emergency in mid-March 2020, and all education institutions were closed for two months. Lighter limitations have been in effect ever since. Police University College, the only police education institution in the country, transferred approx. 75 % of teaching in degree programmes into distance learning within weeks.
‘The advantages and disadvantages of online education for police officers in Iceland (notably diversity)’
The Icelandic police education was, in 2016, shifted to university level and located at the University of Akureyri (UNAK). This increased the importance placed on educating police students in diversity. At the same time, the Centre for Police Training and Professional Development (MSL) introduced similar trainings. At UNAK, police students take mandatory courses on subjects such as diversity, hate crime and human rights. The MSL offers short courses on diversity and hate crime to police officers. Due to Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that on-line education is offered to police students in Iceland, increasing numbers of students participate in online classes. This presentation will look at the pros and cons with online teaching versus face-to-face interaction in the delicate subject of diversity and policing. Furthermore, it looks at how to evaluate the training when student / teacher personal interaction is impossible.
‘Lithuanian Police Response to the Covid Pandemic’
As with any other unexpected crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges and new opportunities to the States and their Law Enforcement institutions. The quarantine in Lithuania caused a stressed restricted environment in which the Police was forced to reshape its activities and adapt them to the new situation. The innovativeness, progressive decisions and important insights of the Lithuanian Police leaders that had been demonstrated prior to pandemic may have helped to cope with the difficult situation. Some steps had been taken before the quarantine – promoting remote work, providing appropriate equipment to the employees, acquiring technology for remote communication, etc. This allowed the police to reorient their work in extreme conditions much quicker and to ensure proper coordination of all activities. During the quarantine period, we saw very well that we could do a lot of work remotely. Not only the Police, but also other institutions, including the courts, realized that some meetings and interviews could be organised at a distance