Formally qualified? - A new exhibition at the Police Museum focusing on the changes in police education
Would you pass the fitness tests or psychological tests of police education? How were motorcycle police officers trained in the 1980s? Who murdered Ville in the Police Academy in Otaniemi, Espoo?
A new special exhibition at the Police Museum, to be opened to the public on Friday, 23 February 2018, will answer this and many other fascinating questions.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Finnish national police training and the establishment of the State Police School. The exhibition Formally qualified - a century of Finnish police education presents the history of police training in Finland, describing the development from the late 1800s to the present day.
From “raw recruits” to a university college
The name of the special exhibition, Formally qualified , refers to changes in the qualification requirements of the police.
“In the early days of Finland’s independence, the constables were “raw recruits” and worked without police training under the guidance of a senior police officer. As late as the 1960s, training consisted of only a police officers' course lasting just a few months,” says Juha Vitikainen , researcher at the Police Museum.
“The requirements became stricter as the State Police School moved from the Fortress of Suomenlinna to the Police Academy, established in Espoo in 1961. When the training of cadets moved to Tampere in 1974, women no longer needed special permission to apply to the Police Course Centre.”
In 2008, all police education was centralized in Tampere, when the National Police School in Hervanta and the Espoo-based Police College of Finland merged. All new police officers have needed to complete a Bachelor of Police Services’ degree as a basic qualification since 2014. The commanding officers’ degree became the Master of Police Services degree at the same time.
A lot to see and experience
The exhibition Formally qualified presents the history of police education from the viewpoint of cadet and police officer training in particular. Museum visitors can catch a glimpse of conditions in the Police School in the Fortress of Suomenlinna, and see the humorous pen and ink drawings done there. They can listen to the memoirs of police students and teachers, watch old training films, and follow the progress of a murder investigation in the Police Academy in Otaniemi, Espoo.
“Visitors will also have the chance to challenge themselves in the psychological tests and try out the fitness tests forming part of the current entrance exams,” says Juha Vitikainen.
The Police Museum is located in the Tampere suburb of Hervanta, adjacent to the Police University College . The Museum is open to all and admission is free.
» Formally qualified - a century of Finnish police education
