Background

In 2004 the Japanese Government announced that it would be supporting the reconstruction programme in Iraq by providing grant aid for the mentoring, monitoring and training of the new Iraqi Police Service (IPS) in the southern provinces.

ArmorGroup had already deployed 25 former British policemen in May 2004 to provide training to the IPS in Al Basrah and Maysan, under the funding of the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

The Japanese Government decided to extend those training projects to include the Al Muthanna province and approached ArmorGroup to provide this additional training to the IPS.

ArmorGroup actions

Prior to the ArmorGroup deployment, most officers in the IPS received only very basic training, in skills such as drills and firearms. Little consideration was given to the training required by police officers in more complex aspects of law-enforcement, such as investigations, command and control and scenes of crime investigation.

ArmorGroup’s police trainers evaluated the training needs required by IPS officers and developed training plans to bring the IPS up to the level required to police the southern provinces effectively.

Results

Since the deployment ArmorGroup’s police trainers to the southern provinces, the change in the IPS has been remarkable.

The IPS has grown to 7000 police officers, from around 2000, who now fully embrace the concept of progressive modern police training in the core competencies required to provide a quality service to the community it serves.

The implementation of the project in Al Muthanna has been a great success; of the 7000 IPS officers located in the province, around 4000 have now been trained in skills specific to their needs.