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United Nations Police trains national officers on community policing

There was much to ponder in the Lakes region when UN police officers trained their South Sudanese counterparts on community policing.

The United Nations Police is currently training their South Sudanese counterparts in the greater Lakes region on community policing. The campaign, currently underway in Abyei-Chok in Gok and Cuei Chok in Western Lakes, aims to build confidence between the police and the civilian population.

“Sometimes people fear the police and yet we are here to serve them. When they are afraid of us, they don’t report crimes and conceal information from us, which makes them suffer more and our work harder,” says Philip Mabor, chief inspector of the police in Western Baranaam County.

One cornerstone of the workshops conducted by the police officers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan is the conviction that crime can only be kept in check when there are good relations between law enforcers and the communities they work for.

“The police and the community are equally responsible for preventing illegal activities and must have faith in each other,” says Mark Troure, officer in charge of community policing at the peacekeeping mission’s field office in Rumbek.

To create such a conducive, crime-busting environment, more interaction between the two parties is needed.

“When police officers get the skill and art of engaging with members of the community, their work will become a lot easier,” Mr. Troure believes.

Policing in the greater Lakes region is no easy task, however.

“We are still few in numbers, covering a wide area. We also need a lot of training in areas like investigation, administration and human rights,” the chief inspector explains.

For officer Ronald Kuol, the lack of an extensive, reliable communication infrastructure is the biggest difficulty.

“Some areas have no telephone network coverage, but it is a problem even in neighbourhoods where phones work because sometimes there is no electricity and residents can’t charge their devices,” Mr. Kuol says.

The two things that all the police officers seem to agree on is that their communities must be served, and that further capacity building will assist them in doing so.

Chief Inspector Mabor made it a point to stress that link.

“When we attend trainings like this one, we improve our service to the people. So please, keep them coming”.