17 October 2004	Sunday	02 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: Fifty-two police officers have completed training in three different courses organized by the US Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section.

The courses offered insights into ways the police and the community can work better together to prevent crime, identify criminals and track offenders in urban and rural areas.

Course instructors were from the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Programme (ISITAP) of the US Department of Justice.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony held at the National Police Academy here on Saturday, US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Patricia A Butenis reiterated the US commitment to help build the capacity of law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan.

Ms Butenis said a well-trained and disciplined police force needed the respect and support of the community to help maintain law and order and keep neighbourhoods secure.

"The police cannot possibly combat crime, fight terrorism, control the flow and use of narcotics, and provide law and order without strong community participation. Your community can act as your eyes and ears," she said.

The narcotics affairs section of the embassy also completed training courses on victimology and family crimes, specifically designed for female police officers.

The programmes provide best practices that have helped women police officers elsewhere in the world. Police from all provinces, the Motorway police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) attended the training at the FIA Training Academy.

Since 2002, the US has trained over 1,200 law-enforcement officers in the police service of Pakistan, the Frontier Corps, Anti-Narcotics Force, customs and FIA, and has provided equipment, training and other technical assistance to law- enforcement agencies in order to help build the capacity of policing institutions.