The main tasks of the department include the following activities:

- Training of highly qualified specialists for the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine, in particular, following modern law enforcement requirements, who can accurately perform service and combat tasks in everyday activities and a complicated operational environment;

- conducting research in the specialised areas of the Department's work, training of scientific and pedagogical staff and improvement of their qualifications;

- formation of high moral, volitional and psychological qualities in cadets and students necessary for the performance of service and combat missions in typical and extreme situations;

- development of physical culture and sports, promotion of a healthy lifestyle and popularisation of professional and applied sports.

The staff of the department consists of experienced scientific and pedagogical staff with practical experience in the internal affairs agencies and the National Police of Ukraine. Currently, the department employs 4 members of the scientific and pedagogical staff, including 1 Doctor of Science, 1 Candidate of Science, 2 active judges of the International Practical Shooting Confederation.

The Odesa State University of Internal Affairs is constantly improving its powerful material and technical base, which enables high-quality training of future law enforcement officers in the disciplines taught at the department. Thus, the scientific and pedagogical staff of the Department conducts practical classes at 7 locations, namely:

Shooting galleries

- indoor shooting gallery with a maximum shooting distance of 100 m - designed for practical shooting exercises using long-barreled firearms (assault rifle, sniper rifle, carbine);

- two indoor shooting galleries with a maximum shooting distance of 25 m - designed for practical shooting exercises using pistols and submachine guns in service with the National Police of Ukraine;

- two indoor multimedia combat shooting galleries with a maximum shooting distance of 10 m - designed to train police officers in extreme situations of service involving the use of firearms. Pistols and submachine guns of 9X18 PM and 9X19 Luger calibre can be used in multimedia combat shooting galleries;

- laser interactive shooting gallery (using imitation laser weapons) - designed to safely practice basic skills in handling firearms and to practice police officers' actions in extreme situations of service involving the use of firearms;

- a shooting gallery with a maximum firing distance of 300 m - designed to perform practical shooting exercises using long-barreled firearms (assault rifle, sniper rifle, carbine).

The priority areas of the department's work are the development of physical culture and sports. To improve the sports skills of higher education students and university staff, to properly prepare university sports teams for participation in the championships of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine among higher education institutions in professional and applied sports, in competitions for the championship of the Dynamo sports society of Ukraine, as well as to promote a healthy lifestyle, the department has organised a sports section for practical and bullet shooting. Currently, 87 people from among the university's cadets and students are regularly involved in the sports section. However, the department is not only about practical training and sports. The department's scientific work is organised within the framework of the departmental research topic ‘Modern Standards of Service and Combat Training of Police Officers’ and is presented in various areas, including:

- research and publishing activities, as a result of which the department has completed 7 scientific dissertation studies and the academic staff has prepared more than 12 textbooks;

- Research and development work carried out to ensure the personal safety of police officers in the performance of their duties in the protection of public order and security. Thus, the department's researchers, together with the university's research laboratory, developed and manufactured the ‘Migdal-2AK’ television sight, which allows you to secretly monitor the operational situation, analyse the situation and make operational decisions, conduct targeted fire from firearms and directly monitor the results of shooting both in the presence of external lighting and in complete darkness. This is just a very brief information note on the activities of the Firearms Training Department of the Educational and Research Institute for Training Specialists for Criminal Police Units of the National Police of Ukraine. The Department of Firearms Training provides higher education students with the opportunity to acquire the necessary practical knowledge to carry out law enforcement activities while serving in the ranks of the National Police of Ukraine and other law enforcement agencies, to engage in professional and applied sports and participate in competitions at various levels, as well as to realise themselves as a scientist within the speciality ‘Modern Standards of Police Service and Combat Training’.