Self-protection for communities

Namibian police officers responsible for community policing, and a number of guards working for neighbourhood watch organisations, attended a week-long course last week in community protection, at the Patrick Iyambo Police College in Olympia in Windhoek. 

The British High Commissioner, HE Marianne Young, conducted an official closing ceremony on Friday. The course focused on “Community Policing and Gender Violence. The course was conducted by British experts Sally Crown and Neville Blackwood from the College of Policing in Bramshill in the UK, and was funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through its bilateral fund to the amount of N$180,000. The course provided special training on the nature of gender violence and its impact on the victim, family and wider community. Delegates were taught why gender violence is a police responsibility and how to address the needs of victims. This includes referring them for support and advice enabling them to design their own safety plan.  The course also showed the policemen and the guards how to respond effectively to allegations of abuse, how to manage a crime scene, do interviews, use the available resources, prepare the docket and work in collaboration with other law enforcement partners to ensure justice.