Police education reform in Iceland: examining the legitimating principles, contradictions, and tensions in policy discourse

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent decades, in many countries, police education has shifted from vocational training schools run by the police to universities. In Iceland, in 2016, basic police education was reformed, the National Police Academy was closed, and a new university programme was created. In this article, we analyse the discourse in two reports from 2014 and 2015 and two legal texts from 2016 leading up to this education reform. A six-step approach to discourse analysis was utilised. Our main research questions were as follows: What characterises the discourse of police education reform in Icelandic policy documents? What are the discourse’s main legitimating principles, tensions, and contradictions? We identified two contrasting legitimating principles in the discourse: the validation of police competence through a university diploma versus policing as a unique public-sector profession. There is a discontinuity in both social structures and practices, leading to a new approach to knowledge development via research and university education. This shift has produced uncertainty, as well as tensions that can occur when traditional vocational training is transformed into university programmes. These findings could have implications for other occupations seeking professional status with a strong tradition of control over their own basic training and knowledge bases.