University Training Center of the National Police CUFPN

In his speech at the inaugural event, held at the National Police School of Ávila, Grande-Marlaska assured that the training given at the University Center will form a National Police "more and better prepared to protect Spanish society against new ways of operating from traditional challenges, such as organized crime or terrorism, and to generate effective responses to the challenges that modern crime will pose to us in the coming decades, as well as those linked to climate change and digital transformation."

Along with the Minister of the Interior, the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, the Director General of the National Police, Francisco Pardo, and the deputy operational director of the body, Commissioner Jose Ángel González, among other senior officials of the Ministry of the Interior, attended the academic event.

In addition, the ceremony was attended by the president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco; the delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, and the mayor of Ávila, Jesús Manuel Sánchez, among other authorities.

The academic field has been represented by the rector of the University of Salamanca, Ricardo Rivero; the director of the University Center, José García, and numerous members of the faculty, as well as the General Secretary of Universities, José Manuel Pingarrón, and the General Secretary of Vocational Training, Clara Sanz, both of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

For the Minister of the Interior, "the creation of this University Center culminates the search for specialized training and excellence, a training that provides National Police officers with the knowledge and skills necessary for an effective performance of their transcendental work."

The university rank now acquired by their studies "is the most appropriate means to transmit and update the knowledge and values that underpin police activity in a democratic and modern society", added Grande-Marlaska.

400 students

After the opening ceremony, at the University Training Center of the National Police, four hundred officers of the National Police begin the studies of the University Degree in Police Studies, an official title verified by the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Castilla y León (ACSUCYL) that will enable them for their future access to the Scale of Subinspection of the body.

The degree includes forty subjects from the branches of social and legal sciences (Law, Sociology and Psychology), and Engineering and Architecture (Informatics). Structured four courses equivalent to 240 ECTS credits (European Credit Transder System or European Credit Transfer System, adopted by all universities of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) to ensure the homogeneity and quality of the studies they offer) distributed between basic training subjects (60 ECTS), compulsory (120 ECTS), external practices (48 ECTS) and a final degree work (12 ECTS).

These forty subjects will be taught by a total of 150 teachers, mostly in face-to-face mode in the facilities of the University Training Center of the National Police in Ávila, with the support of remote activities through the Virtual Campus of the University of Salamanca.

The first course that now begins is divided into two semesters, the first of which ends on February 13, 2023 and the second on June 9. The student’s workload has been set at 1,500 hours per academic year, equivalent to a credit of 25 hours of work.

Next Academic Expansion

The creation of the National Police University Center at the end of last year through the General State Budget Law has been the most important transformation that the National Police School has undergone since its inception on January 13, 1986. On August 1, the Council of Ministers approved its statutes and in September the Ministry of the Interior and the University of Salamanca signed the agreement that has allowed the beginning of its teaching activity.

In the short term, the University Center will add to its training offer the Master in Security and Police Function, aimed at those who consider the promotion to the category of Inspector. And then it will incorporate training courses for access to higher categories:

• Postgraduate Course in Digital Management and Transformation, aimed at aspiring Chief Inspectors
• Advanced Course in Management and Talent Management, for aspiring Curators
• Senior Course in Senior Management and Strategic Planning, for those who want to ascend to the category of Chief Commissioner.

The training offered by the University Center will be complemented by specific official degrees and with courses of its own that add value to the police function through master’s degrees, as well as with collaboration and research projects with other administrations, universities and public and private entities, to promote R+D+I in the field of the National Police.