Criminal
intelligence analysis and the use of social media are the focus of INTERPOL in two of its
courses that aim at building the capacity of police in South and Southeast
Asia to combat terrorism.
The two
courses conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were funded by the Government of
Canada.
More
than 40 counter-terrorism and intelligence officials from 16 countries attended
the training sessions hosted by the Bangladesh Police Force at the Police Staff
College Bangladesh.
The
16 participating countries were: Brunei, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore,
Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam.
“Strengthening
police academies in the region helps bridge the gap between national and
international policing. It also helps law enforcement agencies make maximum use
of the unique services provided by INTERPOL to fight transnational crime and
terrorism,” said INTERPOL’s Director of Capacity Building and Training Harold
O’Connell.
The two
courses were held as part of the INTERPOL Capacity Building and Training
strategy for 2017-2020, with the aim of reinforcing partnerships with regional
stakeholders in the law enforcement training arena.
The
first course, held from 19 February to 1 March, was on Criminal Intelligence
Analysis Training for South & Southeast Asia.
The
course was held under Project Scorpius, an Interpol inter-regional project on
countering terrorism and related transnational crime.
The
key objective of the 2-year Project Scorpius is to foster collaboration between
INTERPOL member countries to enhance investigative and analytical skills of law
enforcement agencies so as to better prevent, detect, and investigate terrorism
and related transnational crime.
“Police
need to be equipped with knowledge and modern technology, so they can face the
challenges of the millennium,” said Chief of Bangladesh Police, Dr Mohammad
Javed Patwary.
The
second course, held from 26 February to 8 March, was on countering the use of
social media for terrorist purposes. It was conducted under INTERPOL’s Project
Trace as part of its capacity building programme to reinforce ASEAN counter-terrorism
capacity and expertise.
The
three-year Canadian-funded Project Trace aims to equip ASEAN member countries
with the skills, tools and methodologies required to combat the use of Internet
and social media platforms for terrorism purposes, and to gather online
intelligence to track foreign terrorist fighters.
According
to Rector of the Police Staff College Dr Sadiqur Rahman, the biggest challenge
law enforcement agencies face today is to act with predictability in the age of
uncertainty.
“Terrorism,
extremism, cybercrime and other forms of crime may be never-ending. Today, we
all accept the fact that the world is becoming borderless. Our times demand
more collaboration between police agencies and stakeholders,” he said.
An
agreement signed during the training sessions will see INTERPOL’s I-24/7 secure
global police communications system deployed to the Police Staff College so as
to deliver further training on the use of INTERPOL’s policing capabilities, and
provide access to its Global Learning Centre, thus providing institutional
sustainability.
