In many educational programmes preparing students for professions where human interaction is central, the development of empathic ability is of importance. The aim of this study was to explore attitudes towards the importance of empathy in police work among police students. The intention was also to investigate if attitudes would change over time during education, and whether gender differences could be observed. A modified version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy was administered to 355 Swedish police students in a mixed method design, including both between- and within-groups comparisons. Attitudes toward the importance of empathy were measured before and after a practical internship. The result showed that the students in general found empathic ability important, but also that they did not change their attitudes over time .The results were conflicting when it came to gender differences. There was no significant result for the between-group sample, but female students reported significantly higher compared to male students in the between-within group. This research is valuable in the discussion on how “soft skills” such as empathic ability can be assessed and developed in students in preparation for professional practice, and can also be useful in educational evaluation and planning.