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Catriona Laing

Catriona Laing

British Ambassador to Zimbabwe

Part of UK in Afghanistan

19th August 2012 Harare, Zimbabwe

Police training in Gereshk

I have invited members of  the PRT to use my blog to talk about their work and experiences in Helmand. Shelley Groves the PRT’s new Female Police Advisor has kindly written about her first police training course.

On arriving in Lashkar Gah to take on my role as the PRT’s new Female Police Advisor, my first task was to help deliver a sustainment training package to the female Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) based at the District Police Headquarters in Gereshk. The course was four days long and was delivered by myself, PS Kerrie McGlinchey, Lt Jess French and Private Ren Day.

Afghan policewomen and their trainers.

As the course took place during Ramadan it was decided that we would run the course in the mornings, with the lessons being short and interesting to maximise the learning potential of the women.

On day one we were all introduced to the female AUP and went straight into a lesson on values and ethics. The women were keen to learn and had retained a lot of information from their initial police training. Throughout the morning the women remained focused and willing to learn as we taught them other subjects such as crime scene management and police safety and survival.

As the course went on some of the lessons became more practical and with the women fasting we were concerned that they might not want to get involved in the practical side of things. We taught the women handcuffing techniques, handling prisoners, first aid and a favourite of mine was empty hand techniques, we did not need to worry about the women’s energy levels as they got stuck in and enjoyed the practical aspects of the lesson. I never thought I would see a female AUP officer doing a flying kick, but that is what we achieved on our final day!

Throughout the week it was great to see the women’s confidence levels build and that they had all enjoyed the course.  It was also an eye opener for me and it was a great way for me to start my new job role out here by meeting these six brave women and helping them learn and improve on their policing skills.

2 comments on “Police training in Gereshk

  1. And the same insights and direction for improving them hold true. Police should be well-trained, restrained in their use of force, honest, and courteous to all. To take a look at how to improve police, see “Arrested Development

  2. This is certainly a good start. But I have been concerned with other stories I have heard that what we have been giving the Afghan police are uniforms and weapon training. Of course it is a lot easier to talk about creating a democratic police than doing it. But for the most part, police throughout the world are the same. And the same insights and direction for improving them hold true. Police should be well-trained, restrained in their use of force, honest, and courteous to all. To take a look at how to improve police, see “Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off About Protest, Racism, Corruption and the Seven Steps Necessary to Improve Our Nation’s Police” (Amazon.com in US and EU). My blog is at http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com where I discuss these and other current police improvement issues. Good luck and may we all experience not just good but great policing throughout the world!

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About Catriona Laing

I was born in Cardiff but brought up in South London. I studied economics and joined the civil service through the Government Economic Service after 2.5 years working for the…

I was born in Cardiff but brought up in South London. I studied
economics and joined the civil service through the Government Economic
Service after 2.5 years working for the Government of Botswana as an
infrastructure economist.
I was posted to Kenya to advise on the government’s development
programmes in East Africa, and then seconded to the United Nations
Mission in Somalia heading the UN Development Office.
I spent five years working for Prime Minister Tony Blair in his
strategy unit, and was later posted to head the DFID office in Sudan
running a £116 million programme and addressing the drivers of conflict.
Most recently I have been working for the Ministry of Justice to
establish the new international function with responsibility for
European and international justice.
I live with my partner – Clive Bates and our Sudanese dog – in
Balham. My hobbies are yoga, dog and mountain walking and cooking.