Coalition plans to train about 35,000 Iraqi police in next two years

The first class of 466 Iraqi police recruits has graduated from an eight-week training program and will shortly begin policing duties in the new Iraq, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement issued in Washington January 30.

The Coalition Provisional Authority plans to train about 35,000 Iraqi police during the coming two years, the Boucher statement said.

The training focuses on modern, democratically based policing methods, the statement added.

Following is the text of the statement:

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Press Statement
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
U.S. State Department
Washington, DC
January 30, 2004

Police Training Program for Iraq - Graduation

On January 29, the first class of 466 Iraqi police recruits graduated from an intensive eight week training program conducted in Jordan and have returned home to begin policing duties in the new Iraq.

Under an agreement with the Coalition Provisional Authority, Jordan is providing facilities and other support to enable the training of approximately 35,000 Iraqi police recruits over the next two years.

The training focuses on modern, democratically based policing methods, and includes subjects such as Human Rights, community policing, domestic violence, search and seizure, and firearms training.

The training curriculum has been used in rebuilding police forces in other post-conflict areas such as Kosovo, and is taught by international police training experts from a number of countries.

A second class of approximately 500 recruits began training several weeks ago, and another 1,000 recruits will arrive by February 8.

When the facility reaches full capacity, as many as 3,000 recruits will be in training at the same time.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)