New Zealand Police help to train PNP officers

New Zealand Police Senior Sergeants John Price and Dana McDonald (in light blue uniforms) and New Zealand Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Andy White (in light blue barong) with officers from the PNP station in Pili, Camarines Sur.

Two New Zealand police officers visited the Philippines during June and July and contributed to the PNP’s model police station project in Camarines Sur and Dinagat Island.

The model police station project, led by the US Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigations Training Assistance Programme (ICITAP), is designed to help the Philippine National Police (PNP) as it transitions from a military constabulary force to a wholly civilian police force.

Full implementation of the project is part of the “PNP Transformation 2016 Roadmap” that was announced by Director General Jesus Verzosa in May.

New Zealand Police Senior Sergeants Dana McDonald and John Price delivered four weeks of training at PNP stations in Pili (Camarines Sur) and San Jose (Dinagat Island).  That training comes on top of four similar blocks of training delivered by other New Zealand police officers throughout 2008. 

The training covered basic crime scene investigations, interviews and interrogations, terrorism, and trafficking in persons.

The project is designed to eventually be self-sustaining.  For example, these New Zealand trainers were assisted by PNP officers who will, in future, be able to run the courses themselves.

This contribution to the model police station project was funded by the New Zealand government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Asia Security Fund.