The Indian Formed Police Unit 1 based in Monrovia conducted a series of capacity-building courses for the Police Support and Emergency Response Units of the Liberia National Police (LNP).  The first was the 3-day Map Reading Course held at their camp in Congo town from 10 - 12 April 2014.  The participants included ten male and 3 female officers.

They were delighted with the training on map types, traditional prismatic compass, land navigation, grid references, and finding own position.  The GPS-based navigation through eTrex and Magellan SporTrak gadgets including the best use for Maverick and Google maps through internet-enabled Smartphones were also part of the training programme.

Meanwhile, the Un-Armed Combat Course (UAC) on 16 – 18 April for 17 female LNP officers taught the women the practicality of punches, blocking, kicks and throws as shown in the demonstration of unarmed combats.  “Katas” which is a sequence of positions and movements in martial art was introduced to the group.  The message is clear: cope with stress, take off excess weight, and learn effective self-defence without arms.  Not only will they improve one’s self confidence, the self defence techniques will result in positive attitude, better judgment, and improvement in lifestyle. With balance and coordination, flexibility and endurance, it is definitely one step forward to women empowerment.

The last in this series was a three-day course on Riot Control Drill held on 23 – 26 April. The 30 female participants from the LNP were recommended by William K. Mulbah, LNP Deputy Police Commissioner and Chief of Human Resources. They were familiarized with quick response drills, zero response time and various formations adopted to deal with riots and other emergencies, with strong emphasis on the promotion of human rights.

All participants received certificates of completion from Neeraj Bala, Contingent Commander of the Indian FPU 1, who initiated these courses for PSU and ERU, with the guidance of the FPU Advisory team.  With continued transfer of knowledge and skills from their counterparts as exemplified by the Indian female police officers, improved policing among national officers in the country is expected to evolve.