EUPOL COPPS starts 2017 with three specific trainings

(BRUSSELS2) January was an intensive month for the Europeans in the mission to assist the Palestinian police (EUPOL COPPS). The centers in Hebron and Jericho hosted three trainings focusing on interrogation techniques, training of trainers and the use of social media...

Technique of interrogation with children

Interviewing children requires special skills and aptitude. Sixteen officers from the Family Protection Unit of the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP) and five prosecutors underwent EUPOL COPPS training in Jericho and Hebron, including on the prevention and investigation of cases involving crimes against children and crimes committed through the use of technology, such as cell phones or computers. In view of the interest raised, an additional session will be organized in February, in order to involve more officers and prosecutors.

The subject is one of the priorities of Europeans who, in 2015, set up a children's interview room in the Hebron district, equipped with specialized facilities for interviewing vulnerable victims of crime. EUPOL also supports the Palestinian Civil Police in setting up family and child protection units to combat domestic violence. 

Training of trainers in Jericho

Searching for vehicles, checking security areas, searching, arresting and handcuffing suspects... These were the police tactics that EUPOL COPPS police advisers reviewed with fifteen Palestinian police officers in Jericho. For four days, trainers and students put into practice the knowledge acquired in a previous course, in a theoretical way. This practical training, finalized on January 24, focused on teaching methodology, since the fifteen police officers who were selected to " effectively transfer their acquired skills to other officers in the eleven districts ». As a follow-up, the French police adviser from EUPOL COPPS, who provided the training, will reinforce his presence in the districts to advise the trainers in their work of training their colleagues. 

Make better use of social networks

Fourteen officers responsible for media and public relations within the Palestinian Civil Police participated in a three-day workshop to increase their skills in using digital media and information technology tools. Objective: to improve the website to make it more user-friendly, more responsive and more interactive on the one hand and to provide the instruments for better use of the police's social networks in order to properly increase interactions with the population. The British expert in charge of the training thus focused on the techniques and uses of web page creation but also on the improvement of publications in order to make them more attractive. A final module focused on instruments to measure the impact of each action. 

(Leonor Hubaut)

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