KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The Afghan Uniformed Police are taking the lead in all police operations throughout Kandahar City, conducting daily patrols, manning various check points, and planning and executing targeted operations.

The police are very eager to further their training and professionalization with the support of the International Security Assistance Forces. To that end, training the AUP in specialized skills enables them to enhance their capabilities and ensure that the security of the Afghan people is continuously assured.

The Kandahar training program is managed by the Fort Bragg-based Task Force Ripcord, 503d Military Police Battalion (Airborne) with the assistance of numerous highly experienced retired civilian policemen contractors who rely on their police experience to train the AUP at the Camp Nathan Smith-based academy.

The Basic Criminal Investigation Course is one of the courses taught at the Kandahar Training Center as part of the program of instruction aimed at training specially-selected Afghan policemen in basic criminal investigation methods.

“The goal of the training is to teach them how to gather forensic data at a crime scene and conduct witness interviews that can lead the AUP to apprehend the perpetrators,” said David Weis, a retired detective from Houston, Texas who serves as a senior trainer with the course. “Properly securing the crime scene and maintaining the integrity of the chain of custody when gathering evidence will enable the prosecutors to successfully try the captured perpetrator.”

Training includes modules on crime-scene preservation, evidence gathering, witness interviews and evidence chain of custody. All these steps are important when apprehending and prosecuting perpetrators through the Afghan court system.

“We want the Afghan police to assume a more prominent role in investigating crime, since the U.S. military is withdrawing gradually and this is a legacy that we want to leave them with,”, said Weis.

“We’re very proud when we send our students back to their police station and hear that some insurgents and criminals are properly apprehended, because it validates our job and our training here,” added another trainer.

The classes run in four- week cycles and are geared to equip Afghan policemen with new skills in crime scene investigation so they can enhance the capabilities of the various police substations they are assigned to.

“They take these skills back to their fellow AUP so they can learn how to manage crime scenes because the [Afghan National Security Forces] are in the lead and want to better investigate their crime scenes,” said Capt. Kevin Choi, the officer in- charge of the training program. (The ANSF are in the lead).

The AUP who complete the course are honored in a graduation ceremony attended by senior U.S. and Afghan officials who are keen on ensuring the Afghan policemen are properly trained.

”[The graduating class is] the future of the police force in Kandahar City and will be entrusted to go back to their police stations and their neighborhoods to ensure that all citizens are safe,” commented Brig. Gen. Zarifi, the Afghan official in charge of all training in Southern Afghanistan at a graduation.

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