Canada offers polygraph training for Region’s police officers

Jun 06, 2008 News

With increased emphasis being placed on polygraph testing, police officers from the Caribbean will benefit from special training in the field through an offer from the Canadian High Commission to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

The move was announced at the end of the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police which ended in Jamaica two weeks ago.
The Canadian High Commission had made an offer to provide training for about eight police officers over the next two years in polygraph testing. According to a statement from the meeting of the Caribbean Commissioners, the selection of officers who will undergo this training will commence within a few weeks.

This is in addition to other FBI training in several areas of crime fighting as the region grapples with increasing criminal activity and a low conviction rate.
According to the statement, “The FBI offered to make training available to the Region in the following areas: Cyber Investigation; Bullet Trajectory Investigation; Asset Forfeiture and Confiscation; Evidence Response; and Intelligence Collection and Analysis on gang related activity.
There was agreement that the Region currently has DNA capacity in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

It was further noted that there is a need to harmonize these arrangements in the interest of the further development of economies of scale, to maximise the use of limited financial resources and improve the turn around time in the production of analysts’ reports.

It was stated that there is immediate need to develop research capacity in regional law enforcement, as increasingly, more emphasis was being placed on evidence-based solutions.
The ACCP will develop a business plan to facilitate access to funding for training as offered by the Canadian High Commission for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

In addition to the overseas training, the region’s top policemen agreed that there must be an establishment of an accredited Regional Training Institution and the further development of research capacity which are critical to the enhancement of regional law enforcement.
“The ACCP will continue to collaborate with INTERPOL for the delivery of training that will further develop the intelligence management capability of the Region,” the statement from the ACCP meeting disclosed.