Pakistan

The purpose of this mission is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of police training in Punjab. Pakistan’s police services continue to be in need of reform, in particular regarding police services that are community responsive, while utilizing modern policing strategies and techniques to solve crimes. The challenges faced by the current police education system are organisational, substantive and attitudinal. At present, reform initiatives are ad hoc or personality driven rather than as a part of a process of systemic change. Currently, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Pakistan is providing support to police departments across Pakistan, including training to build capacity of law enforcement personnel; however this training is limited and does little to reach the vast number of police in Punjab.

For any changes in the education and training system to have an effect, it will require and be dependent on  reforms elsewhere within the system – changes in the recruitment system, promotion system and police welfare, overall police strategy, rules and regulations. To this effect, the Inspector General of Police Punjab has requested Norway and UNODC to help design a comprehensive assessment that will reach a larger segment of his Department’s personnel.

Pakistan's policing services continue to be in need of reform, in particular regarding police services that are community responsive, while utilizing modern policing strategies and techniques to solve crimes. A report by UNODC in 2010,"Policing in Pakistan: an overview of institutions, debates and challenges"noted a growth in organized criminal activities in the Punjab. The report also listed several areas where reform should be concentrated, including improving relations with communities; crime intelligence; investigation and evidence handling; personnel management and skills/capacity building. UNODC Pakistan, as part of its Country Programme (2010-2015) is providing support to police departments across Pakistan, including training to build capacity of law enforcement personnel to manage crime scenes and process the collection of evidence. In addition, a programme to promote cooperation between police and prosecutors is being rolled out.

UNODC and representatives of the Embassy of Norway Pakistan have met with the Inspector General (IG) of Police Punjab and his executive staff.  The IG has acknowledged the need for improvement in the law enforcement capacity of the Department.  However, he also noted that while the instances of training support provided by the international community (including UNODC) are welcomed, it does little to reach the vast number of the department.  As a result, he has requested Norway and UNODC to design a more comprehensive approach that will reach a larger segment of his Department’s personnel.  The suggested approach involves the following tasks:

1) Undertake a comprehensive assessment of training in all police colleges and training centres to include specialized training offered to the current police corps.

2) Using the results of the assessment, undertake a revision of the training platform offered to police personnel in these training institutions to include specialized training offered to senior officers.

3) Assist the Department to implement this revised training platform

4) Provide specialized training to develop the investigative capacities of investigators to include the collection, preservation and use of forensic evidence to identify and prosecute perpetrators of crimes.

5) Implement the recommendations as outlined in the report by NCIS (2013).

Scoping Mission

At a meeting in Oslo on 14 February, where also UNODC was represented, there was agreement across the Norwegian Government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Police Directorate, and the Norwegian Police University College (PHS)) that a scoping mission should be carried out to assess the feasibility of a more comprehensive assessment (Task 1 above).