Police Perform Anti-Riot Exercise

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday December 7, 2009 00:00

 

In the wake of the smoke, gunfire broke and numerous car screeches could be heard as police anti -riot cars invaded the riot scene. As the smoke cleared, the mob could be seen running in all directions as the police apprehended their leader taking him to the police van waiting. This is not a scene from a Hollywood movie or even real life action, it was a display by the police showing how they are ready to counter any civilian crisis that may arise.

The breath-stopping display occurred at the Otse Police College Open grounds last Friday as police officers from four Southern African countries demonstrated anti riot maneuvers they learned in a two-week joint peacekeeping training exercise at the college. The officers demonstrated various maneuvers to counter different riots that can arise from various situations. They demonstrated crowd control maneuvers, convoy escorting, close protection, breaking rioting students and even dealing with irate soccer fans at the stadiums during games. There real life demonstrations used real Police anti riot vehicles, fully equipped anti riot police and a mob made up of students at the college. Only the ammunition used in the demonstrations was not real to avoid unnecessary injuries.

This was the second French Joint Peacekeeping training exercise and Botswana hosted it once again after successfully hosting the first exercise in April last year. Eighty Police officers from Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Lesotho attended the exercise with the latter participating for the first time. The French embassy sponsored the exercise once again and experts from the French and Portuguese Police forces conducted the exercise.

Officiating at the ceremony, French Ambassador to Botswana. Genevieve Iancu said it is imperative for the SADC region to cooperate in matters of regional interest so that the region can prosper in many areas of development and democracy. According to Ambassador Iancu, the French will in the future widen their financial support so that -the exercise could include all the 15 SADC member states. 'We will continue supporting SADC in their endeavors to become a major role player in managing civilian crisis in Africa,' Iancu said. She added that the exercise is already showing some growth evidenced by the participation of Mozambique in this year's exercise, expressing hope that other SADC countries will join in the future. She said this year's exercise has been even more successful compared to when they started last year. Iancu said she was hoping that the officers they trained now will in the future become trainers themselves so that they can successfully conduct their own regional exercises, but said they will always be available to help.

For her part, Deputy National commissioner of the South African Police Service. M Stander said it is partnerships of this nature that will enhance the fight against crime not only in this region (Southern Africa) but the world at large. Stander said the Police Force of South Africa prides itself in partnership with other governments around the world that assist them in the war against crimes and in the betterment of all members of the region.

She said the exercise could not have come at a better time as the region is on the verge of hosting a major event in the form of the FIFA World Cup to be hosted by South Africa next year. She said there have been some people who doubted their preparedness, especially in the law enforcement region, but it now shows that they are more than ready.

Deputy Commissioner of the Botswana Police, Support services Senior Superintendent Bagopi said they feel honored to have been accorded the opportunity to host this important training again this year. Bagopi said they are indeed benefiting a lot from such exercise, because as law enforcement practitioners, their primary role is to maintain law and order and thereby promote public safety and security, hence the relevance of the peacekeeping training. He said the training was intended to prepare police officers in the region for United Nations peacekeeping missions and encourage cooperation and a harmonized, democratic way of managing public order and post conflict situations.

Despite the training being mostly field-based, theoretical topics including: negotiation skills, conflict resolution skills, humanitarian aptitude and mob dispersal skills were covered.