FORMATION OF FORENSIC COMPETENCIES OF ENTRY-LEVEL POLICE OFFICERS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN AND UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCES

POLICING FORENSIC EVIDENCE

As a result of the rapid development of intercultural communication and global transformations taking place in the world in the 90s of the XX century, it became necessary to create a new personality with a new set of qualities and competencies that are urgently needed for the rational functioning in a multicultural world. For the successful performance of professional duties is not enough to be a specialist who knows job, today. Modern Ukrainian society needs educated professionals who can think critically and make decisions independently in a situation that requires a choice, that is, to be dynamic, mobile, creative. That is, the main feature of professional activity is its development, which requires constant updating and improvement of skills. Each specialist should acquire new knowledge and improve their skills, and, consequently, improve their professional qualities. According to research, professionals who are not engaged in improving professional competence, there comes a time in life when they have internal dissatisfaction with their activities and they need to improve professional skills, or even change their professional orientation. Given the large variety of information technologies at all educational levels, it is not difficult to improve your professional level, and mobile learning is a way to solve a number of educational problems today. In this regard, the relevance of communicative education of future police officers is increasing. After all, the need to train a competent police officer capable of effective professional activity in a multi-ethnic environment is a priority in the training of future police officers in the parameters of European standards. The socio-cultural aspect in the professional training of future police officers is not only the formation of communicative competence, but also the space of interpersonal relations, in which a holistic culture of the individual is formed. The article presents an analysis of the diagnostic results of the formation of communicative competence of the future police officer. The results demonstrate the levels of formation of communicative competence of future police officers in cognitive, emotional and behavioural components.

The subject of the study of this article is public relations in the field of organizing the training of personnel of internal affairs bodies for actions in emergency situations caused by forest fires. The object of the study is the organization and improvement of professional and service training in instilling competencies for conducting rescue and other urgent rescue operations in the aftermath of forest fires. The relevance of this work is related to improving the quality of professional training and retraining of police officers, and the execution of the Decree of the President of Russia V. V. Putin "On combating forest fires", which sets the task for senior officials of the subjects of the Russian Federation to ensure a reduction in the area of forest fires on forest fund lands in 2022-2030 by at least 50 percent relative to the level of 2021 of the year. The article provides a detailed analysis of the training of cadets and police officers to act in emergency situations. The issues of tactical training of police officers involved in extinguishing forest fires were raised. The methodology of the conducted research is based on the application of methods of included observation, analysis of the practical experience of the activities of ATS organizations and educational organizations, interdisciplinary analysis of literature and normative legal documents on the problem under consideration. The scientific novelty of the study is as follows: a) a detailed analysis was carried out on the training of police officers to eliminate the consequences of emergencies caused by forest fires; b) the need to pay special attention to the training of police officers to ensure personal safety when extinguishing forest fires is justified; c) the issues of tactics of preparing police units for emergency situations are highlighted. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the need to improve the tactics of preparing ATS units for action in the event of a threat and extinguishing forest fires. The above statistics and the considered example of the death of paratroopers during the extinguishing of a forest fire in Tyva indicate the importance of ongoing research in this area and the need to improve the quality of professional training.

The urgency of the article is determined by the existing problems in the professional preparedness of police officers. The training of a patrol police officer as a carrier of a new ideology of service function requires the improvement of the system of training police officers and the revision of the pedagogical conditions of educational activity. Based on the analysis of the governing documents regulating professional training of the police, the key directions of reforming the system of vocational education of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine were identified. The necessity of ensuring a close relationship between science and practice and the training of skilled personnel with advanced theoretical knowledge and practical skills is determined. The analysis of the educational process of the students of the primary vocational training of police officers who were first taken to police service for the positions of the patrol police inspectors showed that the practical orientation is ensured, first of all, by the application of situational tasks when working out the practical skills of the patrol policeman during the origin of role-playing games (scenarios). The purpose of the article is to theoretically substantiate the pedagogical conditions of application of situational tasks during professional training of patrol police officers. The authors studied the specifics of the professional program of initial training of patrol police inspectors. The program regulates a list of educational subjects and related topics that are mandatory for study, their content, scope, purpose of training, forms of final control. According to the current guidelines, the term of study is 80 academic days (4 months), the total time of training time is 732 hours. A typical curriculum includes a number of items that are normative (472 hours) and varied (260 hours) parts. A prominent place during training of police officers is given to the development of scenarios. The article describes the peculiarities of the implementation of situational tasks, the pedagogical conditions for the application of situational tasks during the professional training of prospective patrol police officers have been determined and theoretically substantiated. The main pedagogical conditions are: increasing motivation of students to study and self-education; proper level of logistics; application of situational tasks after mastering the basics of basic subjects; sufficient level of professional competence of instructors and instructors. Defined and theoretically grounded pedagogical conditions must be realized comprehensively. Failure to at least one of them significantly reduces the effectiveness of forming the skills of the correct actions in the decision of official situations.

The article analyzes the problems of forming the methodological competence of future officers of the National Guard of Ukraine during training. The professional competence of a future NGU officer is determined by the purpose and content of practical training in the process of cadets mastering general military and military special disciplines at the academy. The main contradictions and shortcomings of the training of future officers during their studies at the academy have been identified. The essence and structure of methodical competence of officers, which is part of the professional competence of an officer as a teacher, is considered. It was determined that methodical competence is an integral ability of an officer, which includes all-military, military-special and pedagogical components, which in interaction ensure the success of military-educational activities in military units of NGU. Researchers consider the structure of a teacher's methodical competence as follows: as a system of components, interdependent levels, integrity of elements. They attribute the following components to the structure of methodical competence: cognitive, procedural-active, personal. It is noted that the training process at the academy should provide servicemen with the opportunity to acquire a certain amount of knowledge, form practical skills and abilities in optimal conditions. And then the leader of classes on combat, special and professional psychological training in parts of the National Guard of Ukraine will be a highly trained and experienced officer and teacher. Today, the conceptual apparatus is insufficiently developed, the specifics of methodological competence of officers are insufficiently studied, optimal technologies, methods, forms, means of forming methodological competence, evaluation criteria, methods of diagnosing its level are not fully developed. Based on the results of the study, the main directions for improving the educational process regarding the purposeful formation of methodological competence of future officers of NGU during their studies at the academy were formulated. Keywords: cadets, problems of professional training, methodical competence of an officer of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Challenges Faced by Police Officers in Forensic Criminal Investigation A Case Study of District Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

1. Donald C. Lehman, EdD, MT(ASCP), SM(NRM)[⇑][1] 1. University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 1. Address for Correspondence: Donald C. Lehman, EdD, MT(ASCP), SM(NRM), Department of Med-ical Technology. University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, (302) 831-8432, dlehman{at}udel.edu 1. Discuss the role of forensic scientists. 2. Describe the role of medical examiners. 3. Describe chain of custody of forensic evidence. 4. Describe the organization and function of forensic laboratories in the United States. Forensic science, sometimes referred to as criminalistics, applies the knowledge of science to the definition and enforcement of laws. Criminalistics is a branch of forensic science that is involved in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of physical evidence produced by criminal activity.1 This field of study involves several scientific disciplines: biology, chemistry, and physics. Forensic science is not a branch of law enforcement, and forensic scientists are not law enforcement officers. Despite how they are portrayed on television, forensic scientists do not interrogate and arrest suspects and do not usually investigate crime scenes. The main duties of a forensic scientist are to analyze physical evidence, interpret the results and testify in a court of law. Forensic scientists are expert witnesses who express opinions as to the significance of laboratory findings. Forensic science plays a role in criminal and civil law. Forensic scientists help determine cause of death, identify perpetrators of crimes, identify bodily remains, track the electronic transfer of money, investigate internet fraud and identity theft, and reconstruct vehicular accidents. Laws regulate the safety and quality of our food and water, the potency of medications, motor vehicle emissions, and pesticides used on crops. It would be impossible to monitor compliance with laws if not for accurate laboratory testing. Forensic science is becoming increasingly broad in its application to law and criminal investigations. Crime laboratory analyses are only relevant if the specimens received are properly collected, transported and preserved. Crime scene evidence is often collected and transported by trained police officers. ABBREVIATIONS: DNA, deoxyribose nucleic acid 1. Discuss the role of forensic scientists. 2. Describe the role of medical examiners. 3. Describe chain of custody of forensic evidence. 4. Describe the organization and function of forensic laboratories in the United States. [1]: #corresp-1

The article updates the problem of the formation of professional competence of future military intelligence officers in the information and educational environment of a higher military educational institution, substantiates the theoretical foundations of professional training of future officers. The need to protect the territorial integrity of our state was analyzed, which determined the importance of the challenges posed to the transformation of military education into the professional training of Ukrainian officers. It is noted that one of the directions of the development of an effective system of military education, with the aim of gaining full membership of Ukraine in NATO, is the modernization of the officer training system, strengthening the integrity of the professional training of military specialists. It has been observed that military-professional education in accordance with the principles of the military doctrine of the state, target instructions of military policy and science, state educational standards, within which the professional training of future military intelligence officers is carried out, is based on the educational-professional program, the modern model of training competent specialists taking into account the methods preparation of NATO member countries. It has been found that the social order of society to ensure the interests of national security and defense of the state for the training of military specialists in higher military educational institutions, in accordance with modern requirements, determines the important problem of forming the professional competence of future military intelligence officers and the development of a structural and functional model of such a process in conditions of the informational and educational environment. It was found that modeling allows to analyze the real content, establish goals, highlight the main components of the structure, essential features, relationships, graphically display the functional specificity and determine the formation of professional competence of future military intelligence officers. A structural-functional model for the formation of professional competence of future military intelligence officers in the information and educational environment of higher military educational institutions has been developed, which contains blocks: conceptual-target (social order, goal, task, conceptual and methodological approaches, principles, functions), procedural- technological (informational and educational environment at higher military educational institutions, organizational and pedagogical conditions, stages, components, methods, forms, means, technologies, educational disciplines), effective (criteria, level indicators, result).

The research subject is social relations in the field of the development of basic skills of road traffic police officers of Russia in using firearms during operations and for stopping drivers attempting to escape from the crime scene. The research object is the formation and development of firearms using skills of internal affairs officers during the professional training of middle and major commanders enrolled in internal affairs bodies of Russia. The topicality of the research is determined by the tasks of improvement of professional training of specialists in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and ensuring personal safety of internal affairs officers and the safety of civilians during operative actions. The research contains the analysis of use of service weapons by police officers during operative actions. Based on the example of apprehension of a vehicle, the author analyzes the effectiveness of use of service weapons by road traffic police officers. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the use of service weapons by police officers, and experiments. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the following: a) the analysis of statistical data of the use of service weapons by internal affairs officers; b) the task to organize a comprehensive firearms training of internal affairs officers; c) the list of measures aimed at the improvement of firearms training of internal affairs officers. In conclusion, the author substantiates the necessity to improve the basic professional training program in terms of raising the effectiveness of firearms training of internal affairs officers. The analysis of the use of service weapons by road traffic police officers, as well as experiments, prove the importance of the research in the field of public safety protection and effective prevention of criminal offences by police officers with the help of service weapons.   

The object of the study is the professional training of police officers. The subject of consideration is the process of increasing the level of psychological competence of police officers in the field of motivation and motives based on the model developed by him. The author describes a model he developed to increase the level of psychological competence of police officers in the field of studying human motivation and created on its basis a special training program for a refresher course for police officers "Motivation: what is it and how to work with it?". The relevance of the allocation of each of the program blocks is theoretically justified. Each of the topics is characterized in a meaningful way, and the most effective methods of studying it are proposed. It is shown that the formation of psychological competence of police officers in the field of studying human motives is associated with the elaboration of each of its components: knowledge, personal, activity. An important condition in this case is a combination of thoughtful content focused on the practical needs of police officers and the interactive technologies used for its personal and activity development. When writing the article, the author relied on a personal-activity approach. The combination of theoretical and empirical research methods made it possible to comprehensively present the problem under study. Based on the study of scientific literature on psychology and pedagogy, as well as the analysis of best practices, the author justified his own conceptual approach to the implementation of the stated topic, which reflects the scientific novelty of the results obtained. The author describes the model he developed to increase the level of psychological competence of police officers in the field of studying human motivation and the training course program for police officers created on its basis. The practical significance lies in the fact that the article shows that the optimization of the professional activities of police officers is possible on the basis of a deeper study and consideration of the field of knowledge related to human motivation and motives, an effective tool is proposed to increase their psychological competence in this area. Classes on improving the level of psychological competence of police officers in the field of studying human motivation were tested by the author in practice and showed their effectiveness.

The article studies the professional legal training of police officers of the National Police of Ukraine. In modern conditions, characterized by the reform of the law enforcement system, armed aggression against Ukraine, the effects of martial law, and the growing public demand for respect for human rights and freedoms, professional and legal training of police officers is of particular importance. In today's conditions, there is a need to form a new type of police officer – a highly qualified, morally stable, legally aware specialist who is able to act responsibly, legally, and effectively. The level of professional training of police officers directly affects the state of public safety, respect for human rights and freedoms, citizens' trust in state institutions, and the ability to combat crime. Namely, the professional and legal training of police officers is a key component of their professional competence, because it is the level of legal knowledge, skills and abilities that directly affects the legality of the use of coercive measures, the effectiveness of the performance of official duties, respect for human rights and the level of public trust in the police. In his daily activities, a police officer is faced with the need to promptly make lawful decisions in difficult and often extreme conditions, which requires a deep understanding of the norms of national and international law, as well as the established legal culture. A special role in this process is played by the combination of theoretical legal education with practical training, the use of interactive teaching methods, modeling of official situations, and the formation of sustainable skills for legal decision-making. It was concluded that the professional and legal training of police officers of the National Police of Ukraine is a fundamental condition for the effective performance of the tasks assigned to them in ensuring public safety, protecting human rights and freedoms, and combating crime. A high level of legal preparedness of a police officer is a guarantee of the legality of his actions, minimizing abuse of power, and increasing citizens' trust in law enforcement agencies. The development and modernization of professional and legal training of police officers should become one of the priority areas of state policy in the field of law enforcement activities, which will contribute to increasing the efficiency of the work of the National Police of Ukraine, establishing the principle of the rule of law and ensuring an adequate level of protection of human rights and freedoms in Ukrainian society.

Chapter 8 specifies the psychological and pedagogical content of the implementation of international standards of ethical behavior in the training of police officers in Ukraine on the basis of the methodological principles of the humanistic approach, interactive learning technologies and modern didactic principles, which should be the basis of the professional training of police officers in their practical orientation while modeling the real process of official activity within the walls of HEI, with the inclusion of teachers in this process as subjects who have the techniques of organizing their own professional activities and analyze the ways of professional self-development. Methodical and practical psychological and pedagogical directions for the implementation of the ideas of humanistic pedagogy are presented, as well as the development of methodological foundations for the implementation of international standards of ethical behavior in the training of police officers in Ukraine on the basis of a general scientific holistic approach, which is an objective need of the modern national education system in general and the training of police officers in particular. It has been proven that Ukrainian society needs a comprehensive strategic and balanced educational policy for the training of specialists who should be characterized by appropriate professional and personal moral and managerial qualities, because the main duty of a police officer is to serve people, to respect the constitutional rights of freedom, equality and justice. It is substantiated that in such a context, the issue of concretizing the axiological and nation-building content and developing the methodology for preparing and evaluating relevant programs, training of scientific and pedagogical personnel acquire special significance.

The purpose of the article is to identify the essence and basic principles of formation of professional competence of future logistics officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to determine the algorithm of formation of professional competence by stages of professional training in the higher military educational institution, to identify methods and techniques corresponding to logistics. Research methods: theoretical analysis of primary sources, normative documents, conceptual principles of logistics; systematization, modeling, observation and testing. The results of the analysis revealed that the professional competence of future logistics officers is a personal education and an integral characteristic, which includes key and general competencies that are the result of training in higher military educational institution, covering the dynamic set of knowledge, skills and experience in this specialty, personal and socially significant qualities (ways of thinking, ability to self-study, learning styles, views, values, nature of behavior in unpredictable conditions, etc.) arising on the basis of the formed subject competences and provide an opportunity to perform the military logistics officer’s duties and professional tasks effectively. The principles of forming the professional competence of future logistics officers corresponding to their specialty as they are basic both in military-economic, and in pedagogical logistics are defined. These are: principle of systematization, principle of functionality, principle of integration and integrated goal setting, principle of «just in time», principle of «jit-reliability», principle of solving information problems by standardizing data, principle of prioritizing the needs of learners, principle of variability of strategies, methods and techniques, principle of focusing on the end result, principle of interaction of all components of the professional competence formation system, principle of coordination of actions of different divisions specialists. The influence of these principles on the formation of the future logistics officers’ professional competence is analyzed. An algorithm for the formation of professional competence was developed, which was modeled according to two opposite approaches – directions (direct and reverse): «bottom up», it means by stages of professional training in higher military educational institution – a sequence of courses, semesters and levels of training (bachelor, master) of future officers; and «top-down», it means from the principles of professional competence formation through the construction of a «goal tree» and the definition of its components (key competencies) and their manifestations in the material of subjects that form general subject competencies, to building a «competence tree» and designing them for each discipline and definition of subject competencies. There are a number of teaching methods and techniques that take into account the specifics of logistics, such as: methods of empirical adult learning, problem-based learning, the method of planned mistakes, visualization methods, methods of press conferences, dialogue, discussions, brainstorming techniques, case studies, which should be used in the educational process to form the professional competence of future logistics officers. Conclusions: the purpose of the study is achieved.

This chapter will critically examine the role that the teaching of religion and faith issues play in the education and training of contemporary police officers around the world, in the context of histories of ethnic, racial, and other sectional conflicts and attempts to reduce them. The chapter first details the history of representative bureaucracy and efforts to reflect the beliefs and values of minorities in government administration. Secondly, the rationale and methods used in this exploratory study into the teaching and training of police officers in matters of religion and faith is detailed. Thirdly, the chapter will summarise the attitude to these matters in different policing jurisdictions and finally, provide case studies of some of the policing problems experienced in various jurisdictions, which touch on matters of religion and faith and whether the education and training of police officers address any of these matters in St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Britain, and if so how.

Police investigation in real-life crime scenes is an essential aspect of forensic science education. However, the practicality of bringing young investigators to actual crime scenes is often hindered by the costs and challenges involved. In order to overcome these obstacles, new technologies such as mixed reality (MR) are being explored as potential solutions. MR technology offers an interactive and cost-effective way to simulate real-life crime scenes, providing a valuable training experience for young investigators. This paper presents a novel design of a MR system using Microsoft HoloLens 2.0, which is tailored to work in a spatial 3D scanned and reconstructed crime scene using FARO point cloud 3D scanner X130 blended with photogrammetry techniques. The system was developed through the lens of Experiential Learning Theory and designed using a participatory approach, providing a cost-effective solution to help trained Kuwaiti police officers enhance their investigative skills. In order to evaluate the system’s user experience and user interaction, the Questionnaire of User Interaction Satisfaction and User Experience Questionnaire were utilised. Forty-four young police officers evaluated the system. Police students showed positive levels of satisfaction with user interaction and overall user experience with minimal negative feedback. Female students showed higher satisfaction with the overall impression compared to male students. Based on the positive feedback regarding the system expansion, the system will be taken into the commercialisation stage in the future to be provided as an essential tool for crime scene education and investigation practices.