Social Work and Policing Conference

In this conference project partners in Austria, Belgium and Portugal will, first, present the curriculum for the SWaPOL training, and second, open the discussion about opportunities for similar cross-disciplinary vocational training between police and social work in Europe in the future.

SWaPOL is an education & training project that focuses on public order management in urban places. This project contributes to a good balance between welfare and law enforcement policies by developing a joint training for social workers and crime prevention officers in the police in several European countries. A pilot course (5 days) has been developed and tested in all partner countries and can now be integrated in existing vocational training schedules at schools of social work and in the police force. The themes selected for this training are 

• substance use among young people: prevention and harm reduction in nightlife
• the problem of homelessness. 

Both themes are located at the intersection of policing and social work, and both problems call for a compromise between law enforcement and health promotion. Here, concepts of prevention are relevant and a discussion about practicalities and strategies in collaboration is at the centre of this vocational training.