Training needs assessment of the Royal Bhutan Police

Abstract

ABSTRACT In response to internal and external stimuli, the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) faces the challenges of organizational change. As it continues its transition from military to civilian policing, responds to rapid social transformation in Bhutan, and adjusts to changes in service demands, the RBP must assess and improve its organizational and individual level competencies. This study considers issues associated with this transition in policing approach. Through the analysis of evidence from the Royal Bhutan Police’s (RBP) commissioned officers, it specifically considers the agency’s police culture and assesses competency areas requiring attention. The study seeks to identify the training needs of all 20 RBP districts in Bhutan. This was accomplished through a survey that targeted all RBP sworn officers. With an 82.9% response rate, the survey reveals that most of the study participants expressed the need for training in investigating cybercrime, bomb threat response, responding to terrorism, investigating accidental fire and arson, disaster management information technology skills, and rescuing and evacuating casualties. It also finds evidence to support an assessment that the RBP force needs training in areas directly related to modifying its culture to adjust to its civilian policing mission. Additional findings include incumbents in the rank of Police Major and above self-rating as more competent than Police Captain and below, and that male officers self-rate as more competent than female officers. The study results support the RBP’s efforts to develop more relevant in-service training and may inform professionalizing police forces in other developing countries.