Education Organisation Kathelijne van Kammen bids farewell: ‘This is truly a beautiful educational institution’ Written on Monday, June 23, 2025 On 1 July, Kathelijne van Kammen bids farewell as Director of Education and Deputy Director of the Netherlands Police Academy. Positions she held for nine years. How does she look back on her time at the Police Academy? ‘I am leaving this beautiful educational institution in safe hands. But I can still get very upset when police education is treated with disregard.’ ‘People always have strong opinions on education’, Kathelijne starts her story. ‘I believe it’s because everyone enjoyed an education. But that doesn’t automatically make you an expert. This is something I’ve had to deal with throughout my career.’ ‘When I became part of the police organisation nine years ago, I knew very little about policing. About as much as the average citizen. In the years I’ve worked here, I’ve learnt a lot very quickly. About how the police organisation functions, and how it is constantly looking for ways to do things better and differently.’ ‘In current times, the democratic rule of law is no longer seen as a given by everyone. I find it very encouraging that the Netherlands Polcie is considering how to relate to this development. But it does make educating police professionals a lot more complicated.’ Developing new training programmes In the area of education, Kathelijne looks back with pride on various projects. One of them is the development of the renewed basic police training at level 4: PO21. ‘PO21 had to be developed expediently, as is often the case in the police organisation. These circumstances were not ideal for educational reform.’ ‘During the development of PO21, there were regular frictions between the police organisation and the Academy. But we managed to find each other again, every time. Throughout the process, we never lost track of one another. That we succeeded in developing PO21 speaks for the quality and professionalism of the professionals at the Academy and within the Netherlands Police.’ ‘I’m convinced that – given the conditions that apply – we train our police professionals very well in this country. Even when I compare our system to other countries and other professions. I’m not afraid to say that.’ In recent years, the bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes were reinvented as well. They have now been brought together in one new sector: Higher Police Education (HPO). ‘We now have three bachelor degree programmes for new recruits: criminal investigations, frontline/community policing and police leadership. The continuing development of these programmes still requires time and manpower. But the programmes have all started.’ Quality assurance ‘What also makes me proud, is that the Academy is now more aware of whether we do the right things and whether we do these things well’, Kathelijne continues. ‘We’ve become better at quality assurance.’ ‘And we’re more transparent in taking responsibility for the quality of our education. Part of this quality is creating a safe learning environment. So we need to be extra mindful of signs of exclusion and discrimination, and respond to those with extra care. This has already improved, but we still have some way to go.’ ‘In terms of quality control, we now have three internal exam committees. They review whether the quality of our testing is up to par. They also safeguard the integrity of the diplomas and certificates we issue.’ ‘When I first started here, especially the quality control by external parties, such as the Inspectorate of the Ministry and the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), was regarded with distrust. While they are actually peers who express their views on your education. It’s an opportunity to show what you do, why you do it, and why you believe your approach is correct. The feedback or criticism of these external inspectors can be used to your advantage. Our approach in this regard has changed significantly.’ Balancing supply and demand The Police Academy is now better able to show the police organisation what is needed to provide and develop the educational programmes. ‘Since we’re more aware of what we do, we can give more professional responses to questions posed by the police organisation.’ ‘Unfortunately, the police organisation hasn’t yet succeeded in drawing up a multi-annual picture of its staffing needs. As a result, the Academy needs to remain alert all the time. We don’t know what demand we can expect from what units. When you’re not careful, that pushes you into a proactive, defensive stance. It demands a lot of energy. And it creates a situation in which we’re not equal conversation partners.’ ❛❛ The professionalism and dedication of our teachers is exceptional. Kathelijne van Kammen Pressure on police professionals In recent years, several initiatives have emerged within the police organisation for education outside of the Police Academy. ‘There are training modules that police professionals need, but which I believe do not necessarily have to be provided by us’, Kathelijne says. ‘For example, very specialist training modules on cybercrime. Or something generic, like learning how to make use of group dynamics.’ ‘The education programmes that provide access to police professions are another matter. These professions come with unique powers, and these require a diploma issued by the Netherlands Police Academy. There is a reason that this was determined by law. Since the pressure on police professionals is increasing, the demand for education is larger than the Police Academy can provide. This led to initiatives to educate police professionals elsewhere. Apparently, there are funds to do so in various parts of the organisation. For educating people elsewhere costs money too.’ Cluttering There are also other solutions, Kathelijne believes. ‘I have seen that certain police units want more places to be created in the Police Officer Specific Deployment (PSI) programme than we can provide based on the Academy staffing provided for this. The Heads of Business Operations came together and said: we will pool our resources. This way, they ensured that more capacity can be provided at the Academy, and these programmes can be offered. I think this is a great solution.’ ‘Less desirable is when police units are so focused on bringing in new people quickly that they allow employees with Special Investigating Officer (boa) training to work in criminal investigation. And then they train them further using training programmes they developed themselves or sourced externally. Doing this creates the risk of people carrying out work that they have not been trained for and do have not been granted the powers for. This leads to cluttering.’ The impact of AI Another major challenge is the impact of AI, Kathelijne says. ‘AI has an impact on policing itself and thus also on the contents of training programmes. But it also has an impact on the teaching methods used. For example, if I want someone to learn or be able to do something at the end of the programme, how will I test it?’ ‘Someone said: using AI to find the answer to a question is like using a forklift to lift weights in the gym. I like that analogy. The point is not to see if someone knows the answer, but to make the learning process that led to that answer visible. This way, you can assess whether someone learnt something.’ ‘From an educational science perspective, it is a very interesting but challenging topic. It means that you need to reshape your teaching methods. I believe this will be the biggest challenge of the next decade.’ Professionalism and dedication ‘I’m leaving the Police Academy in safe hands’, Kathelijne concludes. ‘It’s truly a beautiful educational institution. In the years I was here, I most enjoyed seeing the exceptional professionalism and dedications of the teachers. It gives me great peace of mind.’ ‘But, of course, it’s not enough. Our teachers need to be assisted and supported. To be acknowledged and appreciated. And we need new teachers who can eventually take over from our existing staff. We see an increased interest among police professionals to also teach for several years during their career. I take this as a good sign.’