The need for police personnel is increasing, so the Academy of the Federal Ministry of the Interior has doubled its capacity for training future police officers.
Experience from the police academy
Saim Smajlović belongs to the 23rd class of police officers educated at the Police School. He improved his knowledge and skills during his multi-year career. He believes that this system was excellent for young police officers.
“Even today, we have high-quality cadets who are also sportsmen and deal with other things. In addition to all the knowledge they have acquired, we organize certain courses to build on that knowledge. I think that through schooling in the Secondary Police School, we would not have such a need to organize so many trainings, because they would have acquired much greater knowledge through four years of schooling,” said Saim Smajlović, president of the Police Union of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton.
Changing the concept would first require a thorough analysis, because the education and training of future police officers is continuously aligned with global security trends, according to the Police Academy, which is currently attended by 509 students.
More than a thousand participants during the year
“The curriculum, the last one that was made, was made in cooperation with all police agencies, international and domestic institutions and was made in accordance with the authorizations of these police agencies. In accordance with the needs for basic training, the Police Academy expanded its capacity from the former 250 participants to 520 per generation, which means more than a thousand during the year,” said Muhamed Ahmić, acting director of the Police Academy of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
In addition to increasing the capacity for staff training required by the cantonal MUPs, the Academy’s material and technical equipment, as well as accommodation and facilities used in the teaching process, have been improved. And the subjects they study are adapted to the current legal provisions, for example, police weapons.
“It is one of the police powers. In order to use it, legal conditions must be met. When such a situation arises, a police officer has the obligation to, whenever possible, preserve human life and to use weapons in a quick, but legal and safe way. Of course, we want our cadets not to get into such situations, but who can guarantee that they will not find themselves in such a situation and make such a decision on the first day of their job,” said Kemo Trgo, a lecturer at the Police Academy Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Police as a life choice
Speaking of decisions, for the hundreds of young people who were visited by the Federal Television team at the Academy, there was no dilemma when choosing a future profession.
“The very desire to become a police officer stems from my lifestyle, the values that I consider important and the experiences I gained while growing up,” said Emina Ćorić.
“Exclusively from the desire to help people and for every citizen to feel safe, because police officers instill security with their constant presence in the field, professional attitude and continuous work,” emphasized Elvedin Smajić.
In the life stage leading to the police badge, all these young people will have the support of experienced colleagues who selflessly pass on their knowledge. Many of them will be colleagues of Saim Smajlović from the beginning of the story and, regardless of the differences in the concept of acquiring the title, they all together represent a pillar of society and the state.
