DEUTSCHE HOCHSCHULE DER POLIZEI

Their core work

The Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei (German Police University) is Germany's national university for senior police leadership training and police science research, based in Münster. They bring frontline law enforcement expertise to EU security research — understanding how police officers, first responders, and civil protection agencies actually work during crises, and what tools and training they need. Their research contributions focus on the human and organizational factors in security operations: how practitioners respond to disasters, CBRNE threats, domestic violence, and cross-border emergencies. They serve as a critical bridge between academic security research and the operational reality of European law enforcement.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), the university focused on law enforcement tools and community policing — projects like INSPEC2T (citizen participation in policing), TARGET (AR training), and ILEAnet (law enforcement networking with civil protection). From 2018 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward multi-agency crisis preparedness, CBRNE threats, and disaster resilience, with projects like IN-PREP, PROACTIVE, and LINKS emphasizing cross-border coordination, mixed reality training, and the role of social media and crowdsourcing during emergencies. This evolution reflects a move from police-specific operational tools toward broader societal resilience and practitioner-citizen collaboration in crisis scenarios.

Moving toward integrated crisis management that connects first responders, civil society, and technology platforms — expect future work on AI-assisted emergency coordination and practitioner training systems.

How they like to work

Primarily a consortium partner (7 of 8 projects), contributing practitioner knowledge and end-user validation rather than leading large-scale projects. Their single coordination role (IMPRODOVA) shows they can lead when the topic aligns tightly with policing practice. With 117 unique partners across 29 countries, they operate as a well-connected specialist node — valued for bringing real-world law enforcement perspective that many consortia need but few academic partners can provide.

Extensive European network spanning 117 unique partners across 29 countries, indicating they are a sought-after partner for security research consortia that need practitioner validation. Their reach is pan-European with no obvious geographic concentration beyond the expected Western European security research cluster.

What sets them apart

As Germany's dedicated police university, they occupy a rare position: an academic institution with direct, institutional links to operational law enforcement. Most universities doing security research lack this practitioner credibility, while police agencies themselves rarely participate in EU research. This makes them an ideal end-user partner for any consortium that needs to validate security tools, training methods, or policies against real policing practice — and they have the academic rigor to contribute to research outputs, not just provide a rubber stamp.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PROACTIVE
  Largest funded project (EUR 566K) addressing the critical and sensitive topic of CBRNE threat preparedness through practitioner-public collaboration.
• IMPRODOVA
  Their only coordinated project, tackling domestic violence — an unusual and socially important topic for a police university to lead in EU research.
• IN-PREP
  Ambitious crisis preparedness project combining mixed reality training platforms with cross-border command-and-control system integration.