US to fund Sindh Police for developing new curriculum

Jason Kight, Senior Representative of the U.S. Consulate, and Inspector General Mushtaq Shah inaugurated the Curriculum Development Team at the Central Police Office today in recognition of the ongoing collaboration between the United States Government and the Sindh Police.
American funding, under the Police Assistance Program, will support the police force throughout the province in three phases.
The Sindh Police identified an 8-member Curriculum Development Team who will develop and train 30 master instructors, 20 men and 10 women police officers. The master instructors will train their fellow police officers as a part of the regular training curriculum throughout Sindh province.
The U.S. Government is providing Rs 56 million to Sindh Police to develop training modules in areas such as community based policing, crime prevention, counter-terrorism, criminal investigations, human rights, and the general education of police officers on search, arrest, and other practical aspects of law enforcement, to enhance the existing curriculum.
Speaking on the occasion, Kight stated, “this is a great endeavor on part of the Sindh Police in focusing on standardizing their practices to incorporate human rights in their community policing, with the rule of law as their foundation. We are proud to partner with Inspector General Shah and the dedicated professionals, current and retired police officers, who are working to make their communities better.”
Kight went on to say that the Police Assistance Program supports and benefits Pakistani police officers in every province throughout the country.
Many retired senior Sindh police officers were present at the inauguration ceremony this morning, and will take part in preparing the new curriculum modules.
This latest agreement reflects the American and Pakistani governments’ ongoing cooperation in the fight against violent extremism. Recently, with the support of the Police Assistance Program provided by the U.S. Government, police officers took part in a training course wherein they learned to collect and preserve evidence at the scene of terrorist bombing.
The course provided an introduction to explosives, and instruction on conducting an investigation after a bombing, which will help identify the violent extremists responsible for the crime and bring them to justice. The U.S. Police Assistance Program has also provided equipment support to the Sindh police, with the most recent equipment handover including over 1,000 bullet proof vests and over 1,000 helmets.