Community Policing Officers From 744 LGAs Undertake Capacity Building Workshop

Community Policing Officers From 744 LGAs Undertake Capacity Building Workshop

Community Policing Officers (CPOs) recruited from 744 Local Government Areas of the Federation on Thursday undertook a one-day capacity building workshop on community policing at the Goodluck Jonathan Peace Keeping Hall, Force Headquarters Abuja.

The workshop which was organized by the Community Policing Unit of the Research and Planning Department is aimed at strengthening the capacity of CPOs and positioning them for the task of ensuring the success of community policing as a model to address the security challenges in the country.

“As Field Officer, CPOs are expected to be catalysts and drivers of the community policing philosophy,” Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Research and Planning, DIG Adeleye Oyebade said.

DIG Oyebade maintained that the CPOs would be well-trained by highly seasoned expert and kitted before they are posted to different communities to complement the efforts of regular Police Officers towards ensuring people-oriented policing.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, NPM, mni reiterated that community policing is an initiative to bring policing closer to the people as well as ensuring both parties identify, prioritize and solve contemporary crime-related problems.Video Player00:0000:35

“The strategy relies on organizational decentralization and orientation to facilitate two-way communication between the public and the Police. Our mission in adopting this strategy is to control crime and make our communities safer.

“In the conceptualization of this strategy, capacity building and effective communication of the strategy within the Police Force are key to the success of the project,” he said.

According to IGP Adamu, the training would enable Police personnel to understand the concept of the strategy and exhibit the attitude expected of them in the community policing environment.

From the workshop, Police Officers would have acquired sufficient knowledge of the strategy and the guidelines needed to support the initiative.

Also, the participants would be informed about the role assigned to them in the community policing project and be responsible for transferring the knowledge acquired to other Officers in their Commands.

IGP Adamu had earlier embarked on the sensitization of critical stakeholders on the initiative, followed by the inauguration of the Community Policing Committee and Community Policing Advisory Committee.

Similar workshops and training facilitated by the new trainees would be duplicated in all Commands.

The idea of community policing is to take policing closer to the members of the public and stands on the tripod of community partnership, problem-solving, organizational strategy, and organizational transformation.