Policing staff and students visited Berlin on a knowledge exchange tour on police-related research, criminal justice practice and education. This involved close collaboration with the School of Law and Economics at the University Hochschule f眉r Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin (HWR) and the Berlin Police.
The group enjoyed an intensive academic exchange that examined and compared police-related research and teaching in Germany and the UK.
Student Azraf tells us about his experience on the trip and what he learnt.
AI in police work
The first day of the visit included academic discussions on the HWR Berlin campus. Following a presentation of the degree programmes offered by Department 5 (Police and Security Management), a lively exchange developed on current issues relating to police law and police practice in both countries, with particular emphasis placed on the use of AI and ethics in police work. There were discussions around the current state of AI usage and related this to the latest provisions of Berlin鈥檚 General Security and Public Order Act (ASOG). There were very similar approaches within Germany and the UK to policing, Human Rights, investigation and criminal justice education and training.
Operational practice
On the second day, we visited the Police Headquarters in Berlin where we took part in presentations including child safeguarding, research into public trust and confidence in policing and the policing of protest, public order and public safety. We were offered the unique experience of talking with police officers about their roles and gained further understanding of their equipment, uniform and vehicles.
Policing at 黑料吃瓜网
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Cultural Experiences
On the final full day of our tour, we had the opportunity to visit the German Parliament at the Reichstag Building and the Brandenburg Gate. This included the Soviet War Memorial and remaining parts of the Berlin Wall- deliberately left by the Berlin authorities to remind us of the horrors of totalitarianism and the separation of communities. We learned about the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the social, economic and political reforms that followed. The Holocaust Museum and Topography of Terror exhibition that chronicled the rise of Hitler and National Socialism in Germany moved everyone in the group. The genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime against Jewish and other minority groups is something that we must learn from and consistently remind successive generations, as holocaust experiences leave living memories.
We are grateful to Prof. Dr Jan Dirk Roggenkamp, Head of the International Security Management programme at HWR who expressed his enthusiasm following our visit and highlighted the synergies between our institutions. He emphasised opportunities that we now have for long-term cooperation in teaching and research, with plans for a return visit to Birmingham. We also expressed out thanks to Criminal Director Stefan Majchrzak and the Polizei Berlin team for making us so welcome.
