August 30, 2007
By Emily Visser
TOP officers from the Johannesburg metropolitan police department (JMPD) have joined their colleagues from the South African Police Service (SAPS) for extensive training in terrorist financing and money laundering.
Being held at the JMPD headquarters in Martindale, the course is offered by FBI specialists in the field and is only one such exchange of skills and training that takes place on an ongoing basis between Johannesburg and American counterparts.
Detailing the training at a media conference, Chief of Police Chris Ngcobo is flanked by Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokespersons Edna Mamonyane and Wayne Minnaar
The intensive, week-long training course consists of case studies by United States officials, with a strong practical component. The 26 JMPD and five SAPS officers on the course are guided by four FBI officers who have extensive experience in the fields, as well as a representative from the US's internal revenue services.
"This [money laundering] is not just a United States problem; it is a worldwide problem", which South Africa and Africa will start to experience more in years to come, according to Don Przybyla, who spoke on behalf of the FBI.
There has been an increase in money laundering crimes in the country over the last decade, especially using drug money which is brought into South Africa to be "cleaned", confirms Chris Ngcobo, the JMPD chief of police.
Criminals are sophisticated and study police methods. According to Ngcobo, arrests are made but criminals often escape conviction because officers are unable to place the criminal at the scene of the crime through lack of supporting evidence. "We want to improve our skills."
Ngcobo is determined to make the City's police force the best in the country, and in 2001 he approached the then consul-general of the United States to help to get the metro police on a par with its American counterparts.
"I want to model the JMPD on the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), with the same training and qualifications as American officers," he said, when briefing the media on the training.
The JMPD has its own in-house technical adviser in the form of Willie Pennell, the former LAPD deputy chief of police. He has been at metro police for four years, during which time the force has increased its officers in the field to 2 200, making the force more visible. It has also introduced more stringent selection criteria for recruits and has extended training programmes, especially to middle management.
The interaction with the FBI forms part of its aim to become a world-class police force.
Skills development is ongoing, and Ngcobo himself recently completed a leadership course at the FBI in the US. "We want to encourage our officers to get degrees, speak good English and drive better than the Joburg resident."
All new JMPD recruits must have a matric or higher qualification to enrol for the initial two-year training course. Once officers receive their stripes, further learning is encouraged, with additional courses offered in advance defence techniques, advanced driving, street survival and others.
In addition, a select group of officers go on to qualify in specialist fields such as the canine, equestrian or highway patrol units. "The JMPD must change the face of policing in South Africa," Ngcobo concluded.
In 2005, JMPD and SAPS officers completed an FBI course in interview and interrogation techniques.
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