Police conduct crisis management w/shop

In the wake of the ongoing campaign for the pending elections, the headquarters of the Liberia National Police in collaboration with the National Police Training Academy has conducted weeklong workshop on crisis management for police officers in southeast Liberia.

The workshop brought together over 800 officers of the LNP Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and Police Support Unit (PSU) from River Cess, Sinoe, Grand Kru, River Gee, Grand Gedeh, and Maryland Counties, respectively.

Deputy county commander, Superintendent Samson Wah, explains that the training started from the Liberia National Police Headquarters in Monrovia with a Training of Trainers Workshop for senior police officers across the country.

He says the LNP management decided to conduct the crisis management training for officers because of the upcoming presidential and representative elections in October, which he describes as crucial to the country.

Liberians go to the polls on October 10th to elect a new President and members of the House of Representatives. A total of 2,183,683 citizens have registered across the country to participate in the polls with 21 presidential candidates six of them Independent, and over 100 candidates vying for seats in the Lower House.

Superintendent Wah continues that the police authority decided to decentralize the training so that officers in the field can learn how to contain crisis situation that may occur during the ongoing campaign and the day of elections.

However, he expresses optimism that the entire campaign period and the polls would be peaceful.

Commander Wah says with the level of training being provided, he is of the conviction that his officers are professionally capable of calming any violence that may occur during the campaign and elections slated for October this year.

He calls on Marylanders and Liberians across the country to approach the electoral process with care, cautioning that they should not see their diverse political backgrounds as recipe for chaos because Liberia is the common denominator.

He notes that the world is watching Liberians how they conduct themselves during these elections, which will demonstrate their level of maturity in handling issues as they unfold.

Several officers, who spoke to this paper in Harper City recently, laud the LNP management for the two weeks crisis management training. According to them, the knowledge acquired during the training will greatly help them to calm down any violent situation during the campaign and the elections.

By George K. Momo/ Maryland -Editing by Jonathan Browne