Police Training in Practice: Organization and Delivery According to European Law Enforcement Agencies 2 43 and delivery of police training. First, because the organization of police training — including the development and approval of training curricula — is governed by the hierarchical structure inherent to European law enforcement agencies, making modifications to the current state of training requires administrative effort (Martin et al., 2017; Shipton, 2020). For example, when instructors identify areas for improvement in their training, they have to take numerous steps to reach the level at which changes to training structures and curricula can be implemented. This process can be tedious and time-consuming, particularly if the deciding body for approval or rejection of modification to the training framework and curriculum is a governmental organization such as the internal ministry. Thus, although training coordinators and instructors may recognize room for improvement in their training practices and provide suggestions that align with developments and implementation recommendations in the scientific field (see Marenin, 2004; Koerner & Staller, 2021; Staller et al., 2022), for these suggestions to be reflected in training curricula and training delivery, numerous lengthy administrative hurdles have to be taken. Although the hierarchical structure of law enforcement agencies has the benefit of steering the content of training from an organizational position (e.g., by providing a yearly training focus), the drawback associated with this centralization is the slow and complex process for changes to take effect. While established organizational structures and processes are difficult to overcome or change — particularly in the world of policing (Chappell & LanzaKaduce, 2010) — law enforcement agencies may start by setting up internal “input groups” consisting of training coordinators and instructors to collect and monitor immediate challenges to the organization and delivery of training. The first function of such input group is to act as a direct link between the current state of training and the organizational entity in charge of training related decision-making. The second function of the input group is to differentiate challenges that require administrative structures and the attention of the organizational entity (e.g., changes to the training curriculum) and challenges to which solutions can be found and implemented on an immediate level [e.g., taking a learner-centered teaching approach in training sessions (Koerner & Staller, 2021)]. Another challenge that police instructors face points at the level of training delivery. When delivering a training, police instructors recognize the importance of providing realistic training to their trainees (Renden, Nieuwenhuys, et al., 2015; Andersen et al., 2016). However, instructors are critical of the resources available to them to create realistic training environments (Cushion, 2020). For example, having to use the same training locations and facilities for scenario training allows trainees to familiarize themselves with the settings, providing a less effective low-stress and low-variance training environment (Adang, 2012; Staller & Zaiser, 2015; Staller et al., 2022). To this end, instructors wish for more flexibility in location and facilities in which
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