LAHORE: Pre-election training for policemen in all districts of the province will begin on Sunday (today).

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Syed Kaleem Imam had during the last RPO conference directed all the regional and district police officers to conduct the pre-election training in their respective areas.

The training would help build the capacity of the policemen in different skills including protection of ballot boxes and returning officers/VIPs, first aid, firefighting, unarmed combat, emergency situation handling and coordination with other law-enforcement agencies.

The seven-day training is aimed at countering emergency situation and any untoward incident on the election day. The training has been divided into two sessions of three days each. The training will be held in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Gujranwala districts from July 1 to 7 followed by second phase from July 9 to 15 in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Multan, DG Khan and Bahawalpur.

The teams of trainers from Elite Training School, Lahore, have been formed to meet the [training] schedule in all district police lines under supervision of instructors from District Elite Groups (DEGs) and Special Elite Groups (SEGs).

The DPOs have been directed to complete preparations for the effective conduct of training so that no gap or difficulty could be faced during the election. Additional IGP Elite Force Shahid Hanif will look over all phases of training and ensure its completion till July 15.

IGP Dr. Syed Kaleem Imam said conduct of transparent and impartial election is preference of the department.

He said they were committed to utilising all available resources and also strive to build the capacity of police force to meet contemporary policing challenges.

He laid emphasis on ensuring full attendance of all officials in the training at any cost and to contact Central Police Office for any kind of assistance or support.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2018