The NPIA International Academy Bramshill recently hosted the second in a series of Leadership courses for the Liberia National Police. The first course was held in November 2008 and the recent 4 week course commenced on the 27th April. Liberia is a country on the West Coast of Africa about the size of England but with a population of only 3.5 million.

The programme is sponsored by the United Nations who are working closely with the Liberian Government and the International Community to provide increased stability and development following the end of years of very violent conflict in 2003. The Liberia National Police are committed to reform and have already made significant achievements around training and recruitment and have developed the first LNP Strategic Plan for 2009 - 2013. The training they receive will be of great benefit in helping them achieve the plan.

As part of the course, they spent a week on attachment with Avon and Somerset and Devon and Cornwall police. The course is very intensive with inputs on Community Policing, performance, diversity and ethics and critical incident command and, whilst the classroom based learning is important, the opportunity to see the learning 'in action' is invaluable.

The Independent newspaper sent a reporter to watch some of the students at work in Exeter and this resulted in a one page article in the paper on Saturday. Here is a link to the Internet version of this article

Michael Beasley - International Liaison Officer Africa