ADA University of Azerbaijan hosted the initial meeting of the Network of the Law Enforcement Training Institutions in Baku from 28 to 29 April 2015. The meeting was attended by almost 90 representatives of the law enforcement training and educational institutions of different countries as well as the representatives of international and regional organisations (such as INTERPOL, WCO, OSCE, CEPOL, INTERPA, REDTRAC, ILEA, INCU, GCC-CICCD and other) involved in activities related to law enforcement training. Professor Hennie van As, from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in South Africa represented the NMMU and PescaDOLUS.
At the Baku meeting, participants expressed their support for the establishment of an informal network of law enforcement training and educational institutions. The proposed informal network, called “LE TrainNet”, would cover a broad range of institutions that provide training and education services for police, customs, border guards, coast guards, gendarmerie and other agencies with a law enforcement focus.
Participants envisaged that participation in LE TrainNet would be voluntary, based exclusively on the good will of participating entities. Participation in the network would not entail formal membership or the payment of fees. The network is open to law enforcement institutions, specialised law enforcement training institutions, as well as institutions involved in training and education initiatives for law enforcement at the national, regional or international level. LE TrainNet will support the voluntary sharing of information between network participants on training activities, curriculum, training materials, training methodologies and best practices.
Participants noted the important cooperation initiatives in the field of specialised training by INTERPOL, WCO, CEPOL, INTERPA, REDTRAC as well as other regional and international organisations. The meeting confirmed the need for linking these initiatives.
Participants supported the idea of creating a simple database containing information and contact details of law enforcement training and educational institutions. The database would contain a profile of each institution, including the type of training/education provided and specialised areas of expertise. In order to save time and effort, this database could include links to the existing databases of INTERPOL, WCO, CEPOL, INTERPA and other regional and international organisations. The inclusion of links to existing databases would be subject to the consent of the relevant organisation.
INTERPOL, WCO and UNODC briefed the meeting on the current situation concerning E-learning initiatives. Participants suggested that a simple web page with links to exiting E-learning products might be a helpful resource for training institutions.