ABSTRACT
Several Western police education systems are now higher education programs. Inevitably, police education has become more academic. Nevertheless, research has shown that police students prefer practical, operational police work above academic curricula, and they have done so since they started doing research on police education. This chapter examines whether police students differ in their preference for practice above theory and how their career aspirations influence this. The authors combined both quantitative and qualitative data. The results show that there is a clear preference for practice over theory and for operational police work in all RECPOL countries. In Norway especially, the learning preference for practice over theory is the strongest for students with an outspoken plan for an operational career. The qualitative data show positive associations with ‘practical, varied and exciting work’ and negative ones with ‘theoretical, routine and office work’. This dualistic perception proves to be a comprehensive feature of motivation for becoming police officers, and it becomes clear that many students see this ‘practice orientation’ as a vital characteristic of themselves as persons. Both the hope of getting a new breed of police officers through higher police education and the fear of getting police officers unfit for practical calls are thus unjustified.
