The police is suffering from a staff shortage. This could endanger the security of the Netherlands. To ensure that new officers are recruited more quickly and that the training is more in line with practice, the police academy has shortened its training by one year. But can it be easier to become an agent now?
The biggest problem with the staff shortage in the police is the aging population. More people are retiring than new ones are joining, and the demand for agents is greater than the supply. TNO Research reports that the police will need 17,000 new employees in the coming years.
Originally, the MBO-4 training to become a police officer lasted three years. The students receive theory lessons about the profession, fitness training, shooting lessons and gain practical experience. Since 2021, the same training lasts two years. The police want new officers in the field faster.
Helping people
Ted Wouters (28) is one of the upcoming agents who must protect the Netherlands against this. He started police training at the police academy nine months ago. “I have never regretted it for a moment. At first I wanted to be a musician, but this gives me even more satisfaction. I like to help people. And honest? The tension is of course also nice.”
Wouters belongs to the first batch of the renewed training. The shortening means that the training has become somewhat heavier, says Bert Mensink, spokesperson for the police academy. “But the quality of the training is not compromised. The new students must meet the same requirements as the other students of the police academy.” This means that they pass tests of the same level as students of the three-year program and are therefore equivalent upon graduation.
I hear from seniors that I already know more than they knew at the time in the study
pressure cooker
Should a student not be able to handle a weapon well after two years, not know exactly how an official report works or are not fit enough? Then he has to retake these tests. “We don’t put anyone in the field who isn’t ready yet. As a graduate you really have to be fully deployable”, says Mensink.
The new training therefore resembles a pressure cooker. Wouters recognizes this: ,,I hear from seniors that I already know more than they knew at that time in the study.” He has had to stamp his teaching material quite a lot in recent months. “Actually, you can’t miss a single lesson. Especially in the beginning you quickly fall behind.” In addition to the lessons, he also has to train for the fitness test. “I exercise almost every day. Sometimes with my fellow students and other times just at home. You’ve been working on it all week.”
specialize
In the first year, students are given simulations of the work in practice that they can practice with. In the second year they can gain practical experience for the first time and get a taste of the real work as an agent. Wouters: ,,In the coming months, I will exchange the classroom of the police academy for a police station.” During the first few months, students mainly taste the atmosphere. Mensink: ,,They are allowed to watch, but they only really participate if they meet the right conditions.”
An advantage for the students is that the abbreviated training is more focused on the individual student. For example, if someone wants to become a community police officer, they can already focus on this during the training. Mensink: ,,It is no longer the case that we put an entire group through the same mill. If someone wants to go into criminal investigation, this is also possible with this renewed training. Everyone can now specialize early on.”
By creating more intake moments, more agents will eventually come
More and more students
The aim of the police academy is to take on more and more students every year. “We now have four intake moments per year.” For example, budding agents can now enter the level 4 training in January 2023. “The ultimate goal is to take on more students and to distribute them simultaneously over the year.”
And this growth is precisely the goal of the police. “Now the shortening of the training only works once. That is the moment when the students of the three-year program and the two-year program are ready at the same time,” explains Mensink. ,, This advantage will be rectified later, because if 2000 students come in, then a maximum of 2000 students will also graduate two years later. It doesn’t matter if they take a year longer.”
At the police academy, the focus is therefore mainly on the quality of the training and not on the quantity. “In the short term, the police academy cannot completely solve the shortage either. That takes time.”
How do you become a police officer?
There are several ways to become a police officer. This way, future agents can follow the same route as Ted Wouters. In other words, complete the course. ,,You can apply when you are seventeen, but you must be eighteen years old before you start. There is no maximum age associated with it,” said Bert Mensink, spokesperson for the police academy.
A 40-year-old therefore has the same chance of becoming a cop as an 18-year-old. ,,There is a fitness test in the training, but it is easy to do if you are in good shape. In addition, we help you with training during the training.”
People can also follow a higher vocational education to become a police officer. ,,This is just one level higher, but the basics are the same. The assignments are only of a slightly higher level. For example, if an accident often happens in the same place, it is up to the police officer to talk to the municipality,” says Mensink. This training has not yet been shortened, like the level 4 version. “But that will probably happen in the future. We want to focus this training even more on practice.”
Anyone who already has a college education abyss can get some exemption as a police officer. “But that really depends on your experience and what training you have done.”
Re-schoolers or lateral entrants do not have to worry that they will be without an income for months. “When you register for the training, you immediately apply for a job. So you are immediately employed and that includes a salary. But the amount is somewhat lower than for someone who has already graduated. You build it up slowly.”
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