A Qualitative Study of Chinese Police Officers' In-service Training

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study, which examined a small sample of Chinese police officers' perceptions of training. This study set out to investigate the key factors influencing the effectiveness of police training in the Chinese context of Beijing when international security measures are heightened. The research is significant in that it explored a relatively new aspect of police training, particularly from the perspective of the trainees while in Australia. An in-depth interview method was employed in the study. Five Beijing police officers, who were studying a Master of Professional English degree at an Australian university, were interviewed in March 2005. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the transcriptions were translated from Chinese into English. The findings showed that the transmissive and didactic pedagogy appeared to dominate Beijing police training. A gap was identified between the organisational goals and individual training needs. The study suggests that the individuals' needs for professional development should be considered in designing training programs. The findings indicated that conducting training needs analysis at the individual level, qualified trainers, updated training content and an emphasis on knowledge and skill transfer were significant factors contributing to the trainees' perceptions of effective police training.