Training of Modern Law Enforcement Officers Is to Comply with European Standards

The activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine concerning the development of cooperation with European and international organizations, law enforcement authorities,
educational and research institutions in the field of personnel training, and improvement of the professional skills of law enforcement officers, are considered. The basic goals and directions of such international cooperation and the forms of its practical implementation that have proved to be the most efficient according to the results of collaboration existing nowadays are characterized and analyzed. Conclusions regarding the need to develop and implement new forms of cooperation based on European standards of law enforcement activities are made.
Keywords: Ministry of Internal Affairs reform, personnel training, human resourcing of the law enforcement authorities, professional development, forms of international cooperation

The task of developing Ukraine as a democratic state and arranging its integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures requires a complex solution in order to optimize the contingent structure and quantity of the internal affairs bodies, and improve their activities. Of particular concern is their professional training. Therefore, it is natural that law enforcement officers from different countries are interested in a professional international partnership. This could allow them to effectively combine their efforts in the fight against common evils including organized crime, cyber crime, corruption, drug traf-ficking, trafficking in human beings, illegal migration, and other illicit acts.

A reformation of the system of personnel training (actually, the establishment of a new one) to contend with the newest realities, has become an important condition for the police in the execution of their duties of ensuring law and order, and the public security of the state. It should be emphasized that the adopted strategic course is focused on the formation of a new way of thinking for law enforcement officers (‘LEOs’), including both junior and key personnel. Further police reorganization requires the training of a new generation of LEOs. In contrast to Soviet times, their world view should be based on human values, humanism and democratic principles with the perception of freedom and human rights as the most important achievement of a society.

The modern history of Ukrainian police has opened a new page in the process of its reformation. It is based on international cooperation in various areas of police activities including the training of highly qualified personnel. By developing international cooperation with law enforcement authorities from countries near and far, the MIA executives have defined the next personnel training objectives: the creation of conditions and opportunities to introduce and apply practical foreign training experience; the determination and development of activities to bring the quality of the training of the personnel of law enforcement bodies up to world standards; the evaluation of the results of such training and the improvement of the educational process; the development of scientific re-search on the organization of law enforcement activities, combating crime, etc.

To achieve these goals, quite different directions and forms of international cooperation have been established in independent Ukraine during the period of the formation and development of the personnel training system for the bodies of internal affairs. In particular, one can name the cooperation with international police organizations; the delegation exchanges concerning the learning of the experiences of particular areas of law enforcement activities; the participation in international conferences and seminars, joint international projects, internship training, personnel skills development, etc.

The improvement of staffing practices and the professional training of police officers, as a part of the reformation of law enforcement system, depends on the Ukrainian legislation regulating this area. The legislative activity, in turn, was carried out due to positive national experience and the recommendations of main international organizations, such as the Council of Europe, the European Union, the GATT/WTO. It should be mentioned that even in 2006 experts of the Council of Europe analyzed the activities of the internal affairs bodies of Ukraine. They made their assessments and corresponding recommendations, in particular, concerning the implementation of a personnel policy and the professional training of law enforcement officers [Lepli, 2006].

The ‘Police and Human Rights: The European Dimension’ Project, to have been carried out together with the OSCE Office in Ukraine, has become an example of practical cooperation between the MIA and European institutions. The Project was aimed at the improvement of educational programmes for the training of law enforcement officers according to EU law enforcement standards.

In analyzing the international cooperation of the MIA of Ukraine in this area, we can define a set of its forms and directions which have proved their highest efficiency. One top priority is the participation in international police organizations. This area of cooperation has not only allowed the activities of internal affairs bodies to be put at a qualitatively new level, but has also demonstrated the recognition of the Ukrainian police by international authorities. In addition, their compliance with the international standards and principles existing in this area has been shown. International relationships enlarge the LEOs’ world view, professional knowledge, and experience. Such cooperation gives them an opportunity to learn the achievements of their foreign colleagues, to compare them with what has been obtained nationally, and thus, to make some changes to their own practices.

The establishment and development of the relation-ship with the International Association of Chiefs of Police is a quite promising direction of international cooperation. This structure unites more than 13,000 police chiefs from 85 countries, hence their collaboration for the improvement of law enforcement staffing is based on the Association’s mission which consists of the following tasks: to improve the scientific base and quality of the police service; to implement the advanced techniques and methods of the police bodies’ administration; to develop international cooperation; to exchange experiences; to monitor the processes of the police officers professional improvement; to encourage the LEOs to comply with high professional standards, etc.

These tasks are fulfilled through different forms: the development and implementation of special programmes for the training and professional development of the police; the conferences and seminars for police chiefs; the elaboration of the qualification requirements for law enforcement bodies and modern management models, etc. The Association has the status of an advisory UN agency.

The experience accumulated by the above mentioned Association and other organizations (including many national police associations) has proven the expediency of establishing such professional structures in uniting representatives of various ranks of the Ukrainian internal affairs bodies.

The establishment of the Ukrainian National Section as a part of the International Police Association in 1996 is also important for the improvement of personnel management and LEOs’ professional training. The International Police Association (IPA) is a non-governmental professional organization which has been in existence for more than 50 years uniting more than 300 000 police officers from 64 countries. It aims at developing relations between policemen from different countries, increasing their general and professional levels, broadening international cooperation and improving the image of police in the eyes of  the public and their citizens [6].

Taking into account that very often women also work for the internal affairs bodies, fruitful collaboration with the European Association of Women Police (EAWP),
established in 1989 at the international conference in the Netherlands, has become one of the methods for further integration of such Ukrainian bodies into the international police community. This direction of improving staffing practices is very promising since in recent years Ukrainian women police officers have been invited to take part in several EAWP international conferences. The establishment and activities of women’s organizations within the internal affairs bodies has helped these women  to improve their professionalism, exchange experiences and build contacts with their foreign colleagues. It enables the authorities to target, address and resolve the issues of women’s rights, their social protection, family and welfare conditions, etc. [Matiukhina, 1999: 39].

During the entire period of the independence of Ukraine, the MIA has been actively developing relation-ships with law enforcement bodies from different countries and, in particular, improving HR practices. The collaboration with police from the German federal states of Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate can be used as an example of intensive and productive cooperation. It began in 1993, and now is carried out with the financial assistance of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. Since 1996, these activities have been taking place within the framework of inter-agency cooperation between the MIA of Ukraine and the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior. Consequently, professional seminars participated in by leading Bavarian and Rhineland-Palatinate police professionals have become one of the main forms of cooperation for improving police professional training. These seminars are attended by teachers, students and cadets of the educational institutions under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, as well as by the representatives of the internal affaires bodies and other law enforcement agencies. The Eastern Partnership Police Cooperation Programme which is being successfully implemented amongst the East European states, including Ukraine, also promotes proper police training.

International cooperation with the educational institutions of foreign countries is another important sphere for improving the effectiveness of the internal affairs bodies’ staffing and the training of their officers. It is one of the factors that contributes to the professional capacity of scientific and pedagogical staff; the development of methodological, technical and material support of the educational process; the improvement of the status of higher educational establishments both in Ukraine and abroad.

Some of the undisputed achievements of police education in developed countries are its high-tech equipment, the action-oriented nature of the learning process and scientific research, and the development of skills and abilities which often become automatic. These establishments qualify specialists who are adapted to true-life environments for concrete areas of law enforcement practices. These standards are surely to be striven for by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine  [Anufriev, 1999:133].

Therefore, the main forms of cooperation with foreign law enforcement bodies and specialized educational and scientific establishments are the following: the participation of university and scientific representatives in international research programmes; the training and
internship of scientific and pedagogical staff, cadets and students in foreign educational establishments and departments of law enforcement bodies; the publication in foreign scientific editions of scientific, research and structural design results obtained by the scientific and pedagogical staff of the educational establishments; the LEOs’ participation in international sport competitions, cultural events, social activities, etc. [Spivak, 2010:9].

The MIA of Ukraine is also developing training cooperation with the CIS educational establishments. While cooperating, the MIA is ruled by the Decision of the CIS Council of Ministers on the intensification of cooperation in the sphere of personnel training and professional development and by the Regulation on the CIS MIA/Police Association. By implementing cooperation agreements between the higher educational establishments under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the relevant ministries of the CIS countries, such institutions can effectively share experiences regarding educational activities, research results in the field of combating crime, and me-thods to improve the efficiency of the personnel training of law enforcement bodies.

The practice to hold scientific activities involving foreign specialists has also become more frequent. In Ukraine they aim at solving the urgent problems of the reformation of the internal affairs bodies, fighting against crime and illegal migration, studying, training and the professional development of personnel.

It should be noted that higher education and research establishments under the MIA also cooperate with foreign and international nongovernmental organizations. In particular, they have close ties with the UN Population Fund, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Charitable Foundation ‘International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine’, the American Bar Association, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, etc. In the context of such cooperation with NGOs, the education and research institutions under the MIA receive grants in order to elaborate research projects. For example, they are financed by the International Renaissance Foundation, the Freedom House Fund, the Democracy Small Grants Programme of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Kharkiv Center for the Study of Organized Crime jointly with the American University in Washington, and others.

The cooperation between educational establishments under the MIA of Ukraine with such establishments and law enforcement bodies of the foreign countries has its practical results. One of them considered to be a positive example of cooperation is the relationship between the Donetsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the police of Bavaria and the Nuremberg Police Academy which began in February 1994. In 2002 the professors of the Donetsk Law Institute established the Psychological Trainings Technologies Implementation Centre. That step was a result of studying and summa-rizing the contemporary international experience of police training activities, as well as  analyzing the psychological patterns of LEOs’ professional work. In 2006 it received the status of a research centre. Its objective is to develop and implement different training directions. At present, it has trained more than 2,500 people, including psychologists, junior and key personnel of different services and police departments, experts in other extreme activities, teachers, and students [Beschastnyi, 2009: 10].

Furthermore, the Donetsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has already concluded contracts (agreements, protocols) for cooperation with the educational establishments and law enforcement bodies from 13 countries near and far abroad. It has
agreements with the 4th Special Police Service Department of Nuremberg, the Institute of Police Staff Development of Bavaria (Airing, Germany), the Scientific and Criminalistics Institute of Dalian, China Criminal Police College under the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, the Police Academy of the Czech Republic, ‘Alexander John Cuza’ Police Academy of the MIA of Romania, the Academy of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, the higher educational establishments under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (Saint Petersburg University, Nizhny Novgorod Academy, Orlovsk Law School, Voronezh Institute, Rostov-on-Don Institute of Law), the Academy of the MIA of the Republic of Belarus, the Academy of the MIA of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Police Academy of the MIA of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Academy of the MIA of Georgia, the Academy ‘Stefan cel Mare’ of the MIA of the Republic of Moldova, the Academy of the MIA of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Police Academy of the Republic of Armenia.

Currently the cooperation of the Donetsk Law Institute of the MIA of Ukraine with foreign law enforcement bo-dies and educational establishments is developing in order to introduce innovative forms of interaction. These could effectively impact the professional training of law enforcement officers and help to use the best international practices within the educational process.

The above mentioned forms of interaction are represented by internship in the practical departments and educational establishments of the Bavarian police, and in the Institute of Police Staff Development in Airing. They concern the maintenance of public order, the activities of traffic police, the conduction of forensic analysis, etc. This cooperation also allows the parties to have common trainings for improving the interaction between personnel of the criminal justice structures during pre-trial procedures under a new Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Furthermore, it promotes the arrangement of international scientific events, seminars, lectures and master classes for scientific and pedagogical staff and students of the Institute that concern the police experience in European countries  in regards to collaborate with the press and public, to maintain public order during mass events, to train practically oriented police officers, and so on.

The analysis of the main areas of international cooperation regarding personnel training for the Ukrainian internal affairs bodies has proven the need to develop and consolidate new forms of collaboration. They include
interactions with international organizations, educational establishments, and research and police institutions of foreign states. This cooperation is focused on the further implementation of international best practices into the activities of the internal affairs departments and the educational processes and scientific research of the higher educational establishments under the MIA of Ukraine. It is stressed that such collaboration should result in educational materials published in order to illustrate the Ukrainian and foreign experiences of fighting crime, training personnel and developing professional skills. 

Ievgen ZOZULYA