From the period 1997 to 2004, the cooperation with the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) and with the involvement of training officers from the Philippine National Police (PNP) was undertaken to advance the process of peace-building, democracy and human rights in the public safety sector as well as enhance the professionalism of public safety law enforcers. It covered: i) Faculty Development Training; ii) Exchange of Experts between the Philippines (PPSC and PNP) and Germany (Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior); and, iii) Training Program on Public Safety Management in Bavaria/Germany (HSF and Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior).
In 2013, HSF renewed its partnership with the PPSC as the lead organization to strengthen police training, adopting the training philosophy of the Bavarian Police using practical, community-oriented, case-based training with the objective of strengthening the police faculty and trainers’ use of practical, case-based training methods. Since then, PPSC and PNP training directors, professors, and training managers have attended relevant courses at the Second Stand-by Police Academy in Eichstätt/Bavaria (II. Bereitschaftspolizei- Abteilung or II.BPA) to learn and observe police training. II. BPA instructors conducted local seminars for faculty/police instructors and assisted the latter in the development of case-based training scenarios.
PPSC pilot-tested training scenarios they developed for basic recruit , and noncommissioned officer courses. Training focused on the use and conduct of practical training exercises and demonstrating the linkage between theory and conduct of practical training, and how a single scenario could capture several subjects such as legal principles, police operational procedures, communication, self-defense, use of force, among others. The training philosophy of the Bavarian Police emphasized that any police response incorporate the following elements: (i) knowing police operational procedures and the legal basis of their actions; (ii) have the necessary practical skills obtained from repeated training exercises; and, (iii) are able to communicate their actions as a means to inform and de-escalate conflict. These PPSC-initiated/conducted training activities led to the printing of the HSF-supported “PPSC Case-Based Scenarios Training Manuals.”
Follow-on workshops were held for training directors, faculty and police instructors from various regions, with each region tasked to develop additional case-based scenarios in police patrol, traffic and investigation specific to their areas of assignment to be used for future training of police recruits/officers. All case-based scenario training materials integrate principles of community-oriented and human rights-based policing (HRBP) which in summary is the police officer’s demonstrated “professionalism, competence and adherence to the rule of law/police operational procedures” at all times when responding or in the regular conduct of police operations.
In 2019, the PNP assumed responsibility for police training for non-commissioned police officers and the PPSC retained the responsibility for senior-level, police commissioned officer training. Future directions include working with both organizations to further adoption of the training philosophy of the Bavarian Police in all aspects of police training.