COTONOU, Benin – Developing crime scene investigation techniques was the focus of a training course for police in Benin organized by INTERPOL as part of its German-funded OASIS (Operational Assistance, Services and Infrastructure Support) programme.
Hosted at the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Cotonou, police officers from across the country were trained and took part in a range of practical exercises across a series of disciplines including fingerprint and DNA trace retrieval, shoe and tyre imprint identification and collection and general evidence preservation procedures.
The course was officially opened by Benin's Minister of the Interior and Public Safety Martial Sounton and German Ambassador Ludwig Linden who said that the training would provide 'a significant boost to policing capacity across the country'.
Officers from INTERPOL's General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France and from Germany's Bundeskriminalamt Federal Criminal Police (BKA) jointly ran the five-day course (6 – 10 December) attended by 23 police officers from Benin.
INTERPOL's OASIS programme, which has already received EUR 10 million in funding from the German government since 2008, aims to assist countries in Africa develop a global and integrated approach to fighting 21st century crime by developing operational capacities at the national and regional level.