Cross-cultural competence for police work: Training strategies

Increasing tension and scandal-laden conflicts with members of ethnic minorities during the 1990s make it clear, that the German police force is still not satisfactorily prepared to deal with a multi-cultural society. An immediate reaction was the engagement of training programmes, giving higher-rank officials something to present as an approach to solving the problem. This can apparently be seen as cosmetic change without effect on the structure and culture of the organisation. This work attempts to map the potential for sustainable development of intercultural competence via training programmes, based on the results of international research on police work. Four classical models of intercultural training are described, and their suitability for further education within the police analysed. Starting from the difficulties of determining the actual competency requirements specific in the field, and the basic problems of mediating and acquiring inter-cultural skills, the article concludes with a discussion of sustainable education strategies, which extend to fundamental questions of organisational development.