Puntland State Police enhance their Information Management System with support from EUCAP Somalia
The EU Capacity Building Mission (EUCAP Somalia) handed over Information Technology (I.T.) equipment to the Puntland State Police as part of support to the development of an Information Management System.
The Puntland State Police Commissioner, General Abdi Hassan, attended the handover ceremony at the EUCAP Somalia Field Office in Garowe.
The Information Management System for the police aims to establish an adequate information flow from Puntland’s nine regional Criminal Investigation Department (CID) offices to the CID Headquarter (HQ) in Garowe.
In his remarks, EUCAP Somalia’s Senior Police Advisor, Simon O’Connor, emphasised the significance of the need for the CID to be well equipped and organised.
“In the Rule of Law chain, the police in general and the CID in particular play a crucial role. The work done in criminal cases will have a significant impact on the citizen’s legal rights. For that reason, a well organised, well trained and well equipped police service is crucial in a democratic society,’’ Simon O’Connor said.
With the new I.T. equipment computer stations can be set up in the regional CID offices and connected to the HQ database server to exchange criminal reports and statistics, intelligence and other relevant information needed in criminal investigations.
Establishing a direct communication line between the regional offices and CID HQ allows for increased quality and timeliness of intelligence received and improved maintenance of CID statistics. The information link will support senior police managers to effectively utilise limited resources and make well-timed decisions.
General Abdi Hassan explained that once the Information Management System is installed, the goal is to connect Puntland CID to the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) office in Mogadishu.
“We hope that this donation of I.T. equipment wouldn’t be the last but the first step to continue the process of building the CID database to realise the vision of connecting Puntland CID to Interpol,” he said.
EUCAP Somalia’s Police and Rule of Law Advisors will continue to work closely with the Puntland State Police to develop relevant training courses to support the setup and effective use of the Information Management System.
