EUPOL COPPS supports Judicial Police Training for the PCP

Nablus, 4^th April 2010 - EUPOL COPPS’s Police and Rule of Law experts continued their training sessions for 32 officers of the Judicial Police branch of the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP) at the Court House and the Detention Centre of the city of Nablus (northern West Bank).

Today’s session, which is part of a 2-weeks comprehensive training programme, was a quite practical one, dealing with the proper handling and transportation of detainees to and from the court, within an environment of safety and security for them. Besides this, other Police tactics we also addressed. Among them, self-defence techniques, handling of a suspect unarmed, handling of juvenile and female suspects, and first aid techniques.

The training is being directed by Austrian expert Robert Rohrboeck, Chief of Intervention Team of the Vienna Prison, and supervised by German Rule of Law expert Michael Schulte, who is also coordinating the whole 6-weeks program on behalf of EUPOL COPPS. It will be followed by a similar training on Tuesday, 6^th April, in Ramallah, and later spread throughout the West Bank according to the “training of trainers” concept.

The follow-up training courses that will take place within the next few weeks will be attended by almost one hundred additional officers and will also deal with the security of court buildings, the proper handling of detainees, and their transportation and delivery to courts. Further courses are also planned in the field of close protection for prosecutors, judges and witnesses.

Nablus Police Chief, Omer Al-Bzur thanked the European Union for “its support to the development of the Judicial Police within the establishment of an independent and democratic Palestinian State”.