FAQ: CEPOL - European Police College

What does CEPOL do?: CEPOL - European Police College brings together senior police officers across Europe with the aim to encourage cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, maintenance of public security and law and order.

Category: About CEPOL
Who established CEPOL?: CEPOL was established as an agency of the European Union (EU) in 2005 (Council Decision 2005/681/JHA of 20 September 2005). Please see the History section

Category: About CEPOL
What is the function of CEPOL Secretariat?: CEPOL Secretariat staff members carry out the day-to-day work in support of the network. For further information, please see the About CEPOL section.

Category: About CEPOL
Where is Bramshill?: Bramshill is based in the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. Bramshill is approximately 70km from central London.

Category: About CEPOL
How do I get to Bramshill?: There are several ways to get to Bramshill - by rail, road and air. Please visit the How to get to CEPOL Secretariat section for further information.

Category: About CEPOL
Who are the CEPOL Governing Board?: The CEPOL Governing Board usually meets four times a year and is responsible for driving CEPOL's strategy and for making decisions. The CEPOL Governing Board is made up of representatives from the EU Member States, usually the Directors of the National Police Taining colleges. Each delegation has one voting member mandated to vote on behalf of their country. The Chair of the Governing Board is a representative of the Member State holding the Presidency of the European Union. For further information, please visit the Governing Board section of this website.

Category: About CEPOL
What is a NCP?: A National Contact Point is the official link between the Member State and CEPOL. All official documents and publications are disseminated to a wider audience in each Member State via the NCPs.

Category: About CEPOL

How do I apply for participation in a course or seminar?

Application procedures vary from country to country, but they all have in common that the National Contact Point nominates the participant(s) to the inviting course organiser.

Category: Courses & Seminars

How many participants from the same country can take part in a course?

The maximum number of participants allowed per course from the same country is three. This is done in order to avoid one country 'overwhelming' a course and to avoid segregation from other participants.

Category: Courses & Seminars

How many participants are needed for a course to take place?

At least 15 participants from at least ten different Member States are needed for a course to take place. If the criteria are not met, a course organiser should contact CEPOL Secretariat for a final decision.

Category: Courses & Seminars

When a course or seminar is scheduled for three days, does that mean it has to be three full calendar days?

No, it is possible to use four calendar days for a course. This allows participants to travel to a course before it starts. Therefore, it is possible to start a course in the afternoon (day one) allowing participants to arrive in the morning and to end a course at lunchtime (day four). This makes a three-day course, spread over four calendar days.

Category: Courses & Seminars

Are there any rules regarding the number of active training hours per day?

There are no rules regarding the number of active training hours per day. On the one hand, a day should be effective, on the other hand time is also needed for recuperation from working in a foreign language and for networking. Tiredness is not a good condition to learn in. Based on experience, six effective hours per day is a good guide.

Category: Courses & Seminars

Are there any specific conditions for senior police officers from other EU Bodies (agencies) to take part in a CEPOL course or seminar?

Yes, the following should be taken into account:

There should be a seat available, please contact the course organiser to obtain this information. Event organiser contact details can be found attached to the event on the CEPOL Calendar of Events;
All costs (travel, accommodation, meals) for your participation have to be borne by the sending EU Body (agency);
The National Contact Person of your country of origin needs to be informed (example: If you are a German national then please inform the German NCP).

Category: Courses & Seminars

How can I find out when and where a specific course is being held?

For details on courses, please visit the Calendar of Events section.

Category: Courses & Seminars

Can you send me the course descriptor for a specific course?

You should be able to find the course descriptor in the further details of the course you are interested in. Please visit the Calendar of Events section. If no information is available, please contact your National Contact Point.

Category: Courses & Seminars

Could you send me the updated events calendar?

Please visit the Calendar of Events section of this website for the latest list of CEPOL events.

Category: Courses & Seminars

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What is e-Net?: e-Net is CEPOL's electronic platform developed to bring all existing CEPOL systems together (CEPOL-eDoc, EPDN, EPKN, EPSN and the website) under one roof and allow users access to all systems by entering one username and password. Registrations to e-Net are restricted to senior police officers, those working within the CEPOL network or in the area of police training. Currently e-Net encompasses a website, a Discussion Forum, a Live Chat facility and e-Library (CEPOL-eDoc replacement). Later this year it will also encompass "Courses" a Learning Management System and "Workspace" a Document Management System.

Category: Research Databases
What is the e-Library?: CEPOL's e-Library is a knowledge repository of research projects and scientific findings in the field of police and policing. It collects entries from all CEPOL Member States in all official EU languages, though every entry has a summary or abstract in English. A number of entries have the full text attached.

Category: Research Databases
For whom is the e-Library?: CEPOL's e-Library is not available to the general public for capacitary and copyright reasons. The e-Library is accessible in general to participants, trainers and organisers of CEPOL courses, senior police officers of police forces from CEPOL Member States and students at National Police colleges and academies. Scholars and researchers from universities and research institutions engaged in studies on police and policing matters from CEPOL Member States can also get access, subject to approval by their National e-Library Correspondent.

Category: Research Databases
How do I gain access to the e-Library?: Please note: CEPOL's e-Library is not available to the general public!
For "read only" access to the database, registration through e-Net is required. Particular rights such as submission rights and/or access to restricted collections will be issued by the National e-Library Correspondent for your country. For further information regarding CEPOL's e-Library please contact your National e-Library Correspondent (see the contacts page).

Category: Research Databases
What is a Research & Science Correspondent?: The person appointed to be the link between the national system of police training institutes for senior police officers, the respective country's scientific community, and CEPOL Secretariat in terms of police science and research.

Category: Research Databases
How can police researchers and police scientists contribute?: Police researchers and police science scholars from all CEPOL Member States are invited to share their research projects and scientific findings through CEPOL's e-Library with other European colleagues, senior police officers and trainers, lecturers and participants of CEPOL courses. Submissions to the database (including a mandatory English abstract) can be done by authors directly when arranged for.

Category: Research Databases
What happened to CEPOL-eDoc?: CEPOL-eDoc (European Police Research and Science Database) was one of CEPOL's old electronic knowledge repositories available on the Internet to help support the process of harmonising EU police systems and improving international police cooperation. eDoc closed on 31 August 2008 and has now been replaced by e-Library.

Category: Research Databases
What happened to EPKN?: EPKN (European Police Knowledge Net) was one of CEPOL's old electronic knowledge repositories available on the Internet to help support the process of harmonising EU police systems and improving international police cooperation. The European Police Knowledge Net (EPKN) closed on 15 February 2008 and has now been replaced by e-Net. Users who log-in to CEPOL's new electronic network via the website will have access to a general Discussion Forum and Chat facility which essentially replaces EPKN. Valuable documents and materials from EPKN have been added to the CEPOL-eDoc database

Category: Research Databases
What happened to EPLN?: Since the agency was formed, the European Police Learning Net (EPLN), hosted by the Police Academy of the Netherlands, was CEPOL's main electronic platform. EPLN has ceased to exist and has been replaced by a new electronic network - e-Net. CEPOL e-Net has been developed to bring all existing CEPOL systems together (CEPOL-eDoc, EPDN, EPKN, EPSN and the website) under one roof and allow users access to all systems by entering one username and password.

Category: Research Databases

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Why is evaluation so important?: Evaluation helps to improve the quality of CEPOL activities. For this reason, it should be carried out with care. The information gathered provides a learning experience to the activity organiser and also helps future organisers to make changes if necessary. In addition, CEPOL is obliged to report on the efficiency and effectiveness of the training activities to its stakeholders.

Category: Evaluation
How should I go about evaluating an activity?: A daily evaluation should be carried out throughout the duration of the activity and a course evaluation at the end. Templates are provided by CEPOL Secretariat and using these will greatly help in the analysis of the activity. The information gathered from the participants should then be compiled in the Summary Report. The organiser can then comment on the course, through the information gathered from participants and also from observations throughout the activity. Templates are also provided by CEPOL Secretariat for both reports.

Category: Evaluation
How can I motivate participants to give their feedback conscientiously on the activity?: Giving a brief on the importance of evaluation at the beginning of the training activity, stressing that it is a valuable and necessary part of the course, will help to prepare participants. Also, emphasizing that they can make a difference in the quality of future activities by taking the time to provide their feedback and comments, will help to make them feel more responsible towards the process. It would help to distribute the evaluation questionnaires at the start of the activity, so that they know what feedback is expected of them.

Category: Evaluation
How much time should I allow for the evaluation at the end of an activity?: A minimum of one hour should be dedicated for evaluation at the end of an activity. Keep in mind that some participants may have difficulty in expressing themselves in writing, and/or in the English language, and may therefore need more time to think. Allowing enough time for them to write will ensure more detailed feedback from participants.

Category: Evaluation
How can I ensure that all participants hand in a completed course evaluation form at the end of the activity?: A reminder the day before the last day of the activity, and also stressing again the importance of the evaluation, will encourage more cooperation from participants.

Category: Evaluation
When should I send the evaluation report to CEPOL Secretariat and who should I send it to?: This should be sent 10 weeks after the activity to: evaluation@cepol.europa.eu

Category: Evaluation
What happens to the evaluation report once I have sent it to CEPOL Secretariat after the activity?: CEPOL Secretariat carries out an analysis on the activities as reported by course organisers. A report is then presented to the ACTA Working Group for further analysis and assessment. ACTA will then be in a position to make recommendations to the Annual Programme Committee on key issues to enhance the quality of CEPOL training activities.

Category: Evaluation

Frequently asked questions