Highlights of the 2018 Training Year at the RTC
Published January 09, 2019
The year’s end always brings with it a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Twelve months have passed quickly. The RTC program keeps expanding its training opportunities and course offerings each year. We count it a major feat to have successfully hosted over twenty-seven courses made up of about 850 participants across West Africa involving active participation and experience from Instructor teams from over 12 Law enforcement agencies. This year, we have randomly selected four courses we would love to highlight. Join us as we tell the story of how the RTC program has seen enormous growth through its improved course offerings and inter agency collaboration.
2018 has been a good year with two successful pilots and a series of investigative courses with a fair blend of law enforcement leadership programs. During the second quarter of the year, we welcomed instructors from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to jointly deliver the pilot course on Wildlife Border Inspection. It was amazing to see how these two agencies collaborated and functioned seamlessly, given that it was the first time. The FWS instructors provided detailed information regarding safety precautions for handling potentially dangerous animals that have been concealed and smuggled while the CBP team highlighted the appropriate means to collect and preserve evidence in wildlife smuggling cases. At the end of the training, participants received knowledge on how law enforcement techniques can be leveraged to seize smuggled wild life and identify suspects subject to prosecution.
The second pilot course was the Overseas Protective Operations Training which was facilitated by a team of experts from the US Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). The majority of the course involved hands-on activities with follow-up exercises and class discussions. Great appreciation to the RSO’s office at the US Embassy in Accra for providing the RTC with two vehicles for the cross-loading dignitary practical exercise involving the movement of a dignitary from a disabled vehicle in an attack to an arriving vehicle.
During the 3rd quarter of the year, the RTC hosted another team from CBP, to deliver a training on Seaport Enforcement. It was an interesting course made up of officers with seaport jurisdiction. It was great working with Instructor Small from CBP who combined a fine blend of course instructions taught directly in both English and French making room for a friendly learning environment. The class embarked on a successful practical exercise at the Tema Port to perform hands-on exercises focused on inspection techniques used in seaport enforcement.
The final quarter of the year saw more leadership themed courses, particularly the course on Women in Law Enforcement. This year’s leadership course was adjusted to accommodate female students from local high schools and colleges to partake in a panel discussion with the aim of encouraging young women to consider careers in law enforcement. The RTC was pleased to host female alumni in high ranking positions from Ghana Immigration and Police Services to lead the panel discussion where they shared leadership principles highlighting issues and challenges faced by women in law enforcement.
All in all, it has been a wonderful year and we wish to express our immense appreciation to all coordinating agencies, stakeholders, sponsors, partners, instructors, alumni and the RTC staff for supporting INL’s mission of building regional cooperation and strengthening the capacity of law enforcement to combat transnational organized crime.
Happy New Year!!!
