Thanks to the virtual learning platform being set up by WebPOL, best ‘learning’ practices may soon be shared Europe-wide on all manner of crimefighting. The project is working on a virtual environment for improving vocational training aimed at local police officers initially in Valencia (Spain), Gdansk (Poland) and Bologna (Italy), but the system is “transferrable” to other police branches, say its developers.
The project complements EU efforts to promote better law enforcement training, as witnessed by the creation, in 2005, of the European Police College for senior officers. But WebPOL is combining actual training activities with virtual modules via an internet training centre and an innovative training management system – thus better leveraging ICT in public services, such as municipal policing and security.
Originally proposed by Valencia’s Local Police force, the project consortium includes the Security and Police Research Institute of Bremen (Germany), the Hypermedia Laboratory of Digital Media Institute of Tampere University of Technology (Finland), and research partners in Poland, Greece and Italy. It is being funded by the EU’s Leonardo da Vinci training programme.
According to the partners, care in the design of the virtual training means it should be easily transferred to other police corps, such as special branches, customs- and frontier police, maritime police, traffic cops, civil protection authorities, etc.
