ISLAMABAD – Twenty-eight Pakistani police officers have participated in atwo-week civil disorder and crisis management training program with the NewYork Police Department (NYPD).
The training, held from April 9 to 20, was funded by the U.S. Embassy’sInternational Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section (INL), said amessage received on Friday.
Held at the NYPD Police Academy, the training taught officers how toeffectively manage public demonstrations and crises, covering topics suchas crowd dynamics, team tactics and the appropriate use of non-lethal force.
The training also included a train-the-trainer component to help thePakistani officers develop new curricula and standard operating proceduresupon return to their police organizations.
According to INL Director Gregory Schiffer, “Pakistani police are nostrangers to dealing with large and complex protests.
This training with the NYPD allowed an exchange of expertise and offeredPakistani officers important tools on crowd control management.
“Pakistani police will be better equipped to respond effectively to publicdemonstrations, using international policing best practices, and ensuringrespect for human rights.”
Participating officers in the training were from training institutions,command, and operational levels of six police organizations in Pakistanincluding the Frontier Constabulary, the Islamabad Capital Territory Police(ICTP), and Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan Police.
According to ICTP senior police officer Hasan Iqbal, “This training gave usan opportunity to train with some of the best police officers in the world.I feel that I am now in a much better position to train my fellow officerson crowd dynamics and effective ways to deal with civil disorder.”
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs works inmore than 90 countries to help combat crime and corruption, counterdrug-related crime, improve police institutions, and promote laws and courtsystems that are fair and accountable. -APP