Skills-based investigation training arranged for cops

PESHAWAR: Provincial Inspector General of Police Sanaullah Abbasi said on Thursday KP Police had given skills-based investigation training focusing on modern investigation techniques for over 100 cops.

He stated this in a meeting with a delegation from the British High Commission to review the Justice System Support Programme (JSSP) funded by the British government, said an official handout.

The focus of the programme is to improve the quality of investigations in serious crimes, especially sexual violence against women and children, and to ultimately improve users’ experience of criminal justice system.

The police chief told the delegation inspection protocols had been developed and implemented across the province to improve performance management of investigations.

The delegation was told that apart from this, a monthly crime meeting under the supervision of IGP, based on a newly developed and detailed crime monitoring template, had been introduced in the KP Police.

The IGP appreciated JSSP’s assistance in problem-solving through a cross-institutional and data-driven approach. He said that the approach had yielded results in the pilot districts of Mardan and Charsadda where the acquittal rate had reduced by over 20 per cent since 2018.

He thanked the British High Commission for distributing 3500 Sexual Offense Evidence Collection Kits to the KP Police to improve the quality of evidence in crimes against women and children.

The police chief said the KP Police developed ‘Operational Guidelines for Investigators on Crime Scene Management and Forensic Evidence Collection’ to properly utilize these kits and these had been disseminated across the province.

It was added that the performance management, initially introduced in pilot districts of Mardan and Charsadda, had shown positive results.

The IGP praised the JSSP’s technical assistance in re-conceptualizing public finance management in the police. He mentioned the reforms in this area including the introduction of police station level budgeting across the province for better utilization of police station budget and improvement in service delivery at the local level.

It was pointed out that a heartening result of the pilot was that no cases of repeat victimization was recorded which is why this essential service is now being extended to all other districts.

The IGP lauded the JSSP’s support in operationalizing cross-institutional governance forums like the Cabinet Sub-Committee, headed by Minister for Law, KP) and Provincial Justice Committee, headed by the Peshawar High Court chief justice.