Impact

Penn State Justice and Safety Institute helps improve Nigerian police force

Members of the Nigeria Police Force attend a weeklong training administered by the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute. Credit: Matt Caracappa / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Six members of Nigeria’s governmental police force made the nearly 6,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean to seek Penn State’s help in improving the training of its police officers.

The Penn State Justice and Safety Institute (JASI) — through a partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police — is hosting six fellows from the Nigeria Police Force for a weeklong training at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel from Jan. 25-29.

The Nigerian International Police Education and Training Program initiative is aimed to help the fellows build knowledge and apply modern police training methods, develop a reform plan for improving their police training system in Nigeria, and create a more formal relationship between the Nigerian police and United States law enforcement agencies and academic institutions.

Gabriel Onyilo Elaigwu, chief superintendent of police for the Nigeria Police Force, said the relationship with JASI has been extremely valuable.

“The program has shown us new ways on how to revamp our training institutions,” said Elaigwu. “We have our own methods — largely with a concentration on classroom work — but we now realize we also have to do a lot of physical activities and exercises, too. I’m confident it will help us, to a large extent, in remodeling our training needs.”

While at Penn State, JASI will lead instruction on the different training theories and techniques the fellows can use when they return to Nigeria. The officers will also spend time at police academies in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland, for a chance to see the theories and techniques in a practical setting.

Bob Stonis, JASI associate director of law enforcement training programs, said the partnership is a fantastic opportunity to have a positive effect on the officers’ training curriculum development.

JASI, which specializes in law enforcement training at the local, state and federal levels, has also worked with international partners in Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates. To learn more about the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute, visit jasi.outreach.psu.edu.

Last Updated January 28, 2016

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