Police training and international human rights standards

Abstract

Human rights training for police is one of the typical activities proposed for improving the human rights performance of police. This contribution explores basic didactical principles of effective human rights trainings for police, as well as some characteristics of police organizations and police culture that are relevant for understanding how to shape human rights trainings for police. From the practical perspective of a human rights trainer, the author discusses some basic competencies that police officers should have, what they should know about human rights, which skills they would need to acquire for successfully handling human rights principles in practical work, and which attitudes should underlie and support police work on the basis of a human rights approach.