Who we are
Since 2006, University for Public Administration Bremen (HfÖV) is operating the Institute of Police and Security Research (IPoS): Statute of the Institute of Police and Security Research IPoS at the University of Public Administration Bremen, amended 16 May 2013.
Despite the fact that the IPoS is still young, the activities are far-reaching and we always work intensively and with great motivation to improve and expand our portfolio, our knowledge and skills as well as our network.
As an interdisciplinary institute of the University of Applied Sciences (oAS) for Public Administration in Bremen/Germany, the IPoS focuses on research and actions in the field of democracy and the rule of law with the special focus on financial investigations, internal security and related topics.
Due to the specialist orientation of the institute members, the disciplines legal psychology, law, criminalistics, criminology, sociology, victimology, human rights and good governance, taxation and fiscal affairs, EU and international affairs as well as projectmanagement are currently the scientific pillars of IPoS. Due to the broad spectrum of represented scientific disciplines, optimal framework conditions are in place to ensure the interdisciplinary and application orientation indispensable for judicial, law enforcement agencies and risk and security related research and actions.
HfÖV - (University for Public Administration)
As our Institute is operated by the University for Public Administration Bremen (HfÖV) we would like to introduce it briefly to you:
The ‘Hochschule für Öffentliche Verwaltung Bremen HfÖV (University for Public Administration)’ is a university of applied sciences located in the city state Bremen Germany, established in 1979 by law (Bremisches Gesetz über die Hochschule für Öffentliche Verwaltung vom 18. Juni 1979 Brem.GBl. S. 233, amended 01.10.2006).
The HfÖV operates three major study programmes:
– Law and Taxation,
– Risk and Security Management, and
– the HfÖV serves as a public Police Academy.
An introduction to the study programmes offered at University for Public Administration are available at www.hfoev.bremen.de (German)
Currently, four main areas shape the profile of IPoS:
- crime prevention
- crime research
- risk and security research and actions
- cross-sectoral multi-agency cooperation
Within these priorities, we are dedicated to work on topics such as
- Restorative Justice
- Stalking
- Interrogation Psychology
- Money laundering
- Organised Crime
- Terrorism financing
- Corruption
- Radicalisation and Deradicalisation
- Victim-Offender Mediation
- Victim Protection
- Human Rights
- Good Governance
- Disaster Management
- OSINT and Big Data Analysis
Principles
As a research institute, we consider our activities as a service to science and contribution to the improvement of society.
Therefore we practice according to the following basic principles:
Independence
The independence of science has always been an important pillar in our society.
We are always committed to this independence in our work and expressly differentiate ourselves from individual interests.
We are convinced that only by such foundations the credibility and reliability in our research work can be guaranteed. Every employee of this institution undertakes to follow this principle.
Transparency
Transparency in science is, in our opinion, one of the essential ingredients for creating credibility and trust, not only in the academic world, but in all parts of society.
We are therefore convinced that our work must be comprehensible for everyone at all times and that this is the only way to fully acquire the trust in us and our work.
Unity of teaching and research
The IPoS as a research institute of the University of Public Administration Bremen sees itself as part of the networking between research and teaching. For this purpose, ideas and wishes from the university teaching point of view are always included in our work and we always support the teaching, students and professors as well as the University as an institution through our scientific work. As part of its research activities, the IPoS regularly offers seminars and training courses itself or provides support for these.
Interdisciplinarity
We always pursue the approach of working interdisciplinary. We pursue this claim in our scientific work to be able to map the complexity of the connections, which make our world increasingly exciting, but sometimes even more difficult to portray and understand. In addition to the focuses of the university HfÖV, which are reflected in the offer of study programs: police training, risk and security management as well as tax and law, whose interdisciplinary linking always are involved in the research purpose, we always take care to keep the freedom of thinking out of the box, maybe even to take an unconventional path.
Development
Nobody is perfect. We are not perfect either. But we work hard to always get better. Be it as a scientific institution, as an employer or as a consortium leader – or a partner. Continuous development requires self-criticism, reflection, openness, trust, fairness and the claim to always want to improve. We always strive to establish this claim in our internal and external structures.
Knowledge Transfer
There are two things that increase when you share them: happiness and knowledge. Knowledge transfer for us as a research institute is not just a concern but a task. It is not just about the results of our research work and projects, but about our experience at all institutional levels. We believe that through such mutual learning we have a positive influence and effect on our environment. The IPoS has partnered-up with several institutions at academic, practical and civil society level throughout the European Union and neighboring countries for the purpose of initiating and implementing joint activities.