US, OSCE assist police

TIRANA, Jan. 18 – Consular Officers from the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, along with a trainer from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in conjunction with the United States’ International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), conducted a training session in Durr쳠for approximately 60 members of the Border and Migration Department of the Albanian State Police.
The training program is designed to help border control officers of the Albanian Police spot counterfeit travel documents to increase border security.
Gary Bullard, Program Manager of the U.S. Department of Justice’s ICITAP, said: “The U.S. Embassy, through ICITAP, is pleased to support the continued professional development of the law enforcement officers of the Albanian State Police.”
Training is part of a continued effort by the U.S. Embassy through ICITAP to assist the Albanian State Police in their modernization efforts.
Albania is part of the visa-free regime with most of the European Union member countries. There have been voices that the authorities in both countries, Albania and the US, may start in a near future talks on lifting the visa regime too.
Two machines for electronic scoring of exams by police officers were handed over to the Albanian State Police by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the United States’ International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP).
Jack Bell of the OSCE Presence’s Security Co-operation Department said, “These machines will be used in assessing examinations taken by police students and officers and will help to select staff in a more accurate, modern, and transparent manner.”
The new Scantron equipment will enable all students and officers to have their exams assessed on the spot and to receive their score immediately after taking the tests.