The making of a social, representative and intellectual police force - Recruitment and education of police trainees in Sweden during the 20th century

• Main Author: Björn Furuhagen
• Format: Article
• Language: Danish
• Published: Scandinavian University Press (Universitetsforlaget) 2015-05-01
• Series: Nordisk Politiforskning
• Subjects: police history; police education; police recruitment; Swedish police; police culture
• Online Access: http://www.idunn.no/nordisk_politiforskning/2015/01/the_making_of_a_social_representative_and_intellectual_pol

This article presents the development of recruitment and education of police trainees in Sweden during the 20th century. The aim is to analyse the efforts to promote a role for the police and a police force that would be more social, representative and intellectual. While this has been the goal during the last ten to fifteen years, this investigation shows that the roots of these efforts go back to the 1930s. The ideas underlying recruitment originally sought the ideal police among soldiers, a foundation that metamorphosed into the desire to attract men from different social and occupational groups, and finally developed into attempts at including more women and immigrants. Gradually, police education has been prolonged with an orientation and introduction, plus increased instruction in theoretical subjects such as the social sciences, psychology and Swedish. The conclusion is that more research is needed in other countries as well, because knowledge about changes in recruitment and education can make a valuable contribution to the general field of police history.