Media & Communications Unit, SLP
Inspector General of Police, Francis Alieu Munu on Sunday 7th June 2015 left the United Kingdom for Sierra Leone after completing a comprehensive tour of Police training facilities and installations in London. The Inspector General was accompanied by the communications consultant to the SLP Mr Titus Boye-Thompson and Dr M Y Bangura, a consultant engaged on the Sierra Leone International Law Enforcement Academy (SILEA) project.
FRANCIS MUNU
The team visited Bradford University near Leeds where they held constructive talks over two days on the possibility of establishing a collaborative framework between the two institutions. Under plans to re-ignite a former working relationship, Bradford University would engage the flagship John and Elnora Fergusson Center for African Studies (JEFCAS) as a training base for personnel from the Sierra Leone Police on a variety of course levels including a programme of training of trainers (ToT) to support SLP personnel on a Post Graduate Masters degree in the department of Peace and conflict studies.
Professor David Francis, a Sierra Leonean who is head of the Department for Peace and Conflict Studies and also Director of JEFCAS at Bradford University gave a very warm welcome to the team and extended his good offices to assist the Sierra Leone Police to train its personnel to the highest level possible so that the force can be assured of better trained and qualified cadre who would give the public a more professional service. Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Donna Pankhurst, confirmed her support to the engagement between the University and the Sierra Leone Police and took time to congratulate the IGP for his vision in seeking to establish a law enforcement academy in Sierra Leone that would offer internationally accredited and validated courses. A key decision to enroll up to five SLP personnel on Masters’ degree programs starting next academic year, 2015 / 2016 was agreed by both parties as a good way to establish a mutually beneficial collaborative joint working relationship.
The team then moved down to London where they engaged on wide ranging discussions with the Metropolitan Police and visited several Police installations including the Cyber crime Unit and the Police College at Hendon, the largest of four Regional Training Centers in London. At Hendon, the team met with Superintendent Iqbal Singh who informed the IGP that they provide upwards of 90 training courses for crime and other related matters. The team was taken on a conducted tour of the facilities followed by Lunch at the staff canteen.
Prior to visiting Hendon, the Inspector General was hosted at Gravesend MPTS where he was given a tour of public order training facilities and simulation assets. The team was shown training footages of Metropolitan Police public order management techniques including coverage of the 2011 riots in North London. The team’s attention was drawn to some of the learning points and methodologies of public order management that the Metropolitan Police is using to manage situations of lawlessness and disorder in London. The final visit to the Metropolitan Police was hosted at New Scotland Yard where the IGP and his team held discussions with senior commanders of the Metropolitan Police and held talks with the current face of the Met, Superintendent Victor Olisa, Borough Commander at Haringey.
