Community policing: training to improve the population’s trust in the police.
On June 14, 2023, in Kalemie, capital of the province of Tanganyika, the Provincial Commissioner of the Congolese National Police (PNC) kicked off the training of police trainers in community policing. This training is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has provided IOM with the necessary funds for the implementation of this activity.
The training of trainers is part of the implementation of the “reinforcement of community policing activities” project, planned for 24 months and which aims to contribute to the improvement of security governance at the local level and the stabilization of communities.
Community policing is a method of police work aimed at strengthening the presence of the police in neighborhoods. Its objective is to bring the police and the population closer together, to establish a permanent dialogue between them, to promote the prevention of conflicts and delinquency, and to strengthen the population’s confidence in the police.
The training provided to the selected trainers will provide the necessary tools for mastering the essential principles of good educational communication and the preparation of future trainers to mature the methods and processes of transmitting knowledge and knowledge to the police.
Learning pedagogical methods and processes will make it possible to strengthen the pedagogical skills of trainers, and to assess the training needs of officers so that they can provide courses to frontline police officers during basic training in Community Policing.
Symbol of a desire to reform the Congolese National Police, this training of trainers aims to professionalize police officers working in various environments in the province of Tanganyika. It will enable them to acquire practical knowledge to better understand the needs of the population, carry out more efficient communication actions and promote mutual trust between the police and the population.
At the end of this training, the trainers from the training projects will be able to provide qualifying courses to the police officers responsible for implementing new community policing practices, in particular during the basic training which will take place in November. 2023.
The project to “strengthen local police activities” also provides for the construction of infrastructure for the benefit of the Police, namely police stations and sub-police stations, the rehabilitation and construction of the Police Academy, as well as the rehabilitation of some offices of the Provincial Police Station of the PNC.
Community policing is a new type of relationship between the population and the police, which will make it possible to reinforce security in the neighbourhoods. Thanks to the training of trainers, the officers of the Congolese National Police will be able to become the first ambassadors of this new way of working and will actively contribute to strengthening the confidence of the population vis-à-vis the police.