Eighteen officers have learned new techniques in crime scene investigation and enhanced their knowledge of crime management on land and on vessels at sea.
This came about through a training workshop conducted by Interpol.
The officers who received the training were from the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG), Marine Police, CID (Criminal Investigation Department) and scientific support.
This training was part of CRIMLEA I project launched in 2011 and funded by the European Union to the tune of EURO 1.6 million, contributing to enhance the capabilities of our allies in the region by giving their different administrations ways to combat piracy at sea.
Since 2011 more than 150 Seychellois have been trained in different areas such as investigation, analysis, forensics, digital forensics and trafficking in human beings.
In a short ceremony held on Wednesday at the SCG base at Ile du Port, the 18 officers were presented with their certificates of completion and two batches of equipment were handed over to the Seychelles Police and the SCG.
Present during the ceremony was the Police Commissioner Reginald Elizabeth, French ambassador Lionel Majesté-Larrouy, Commanding Officer of the SCG Colonel Simon Dine and other key officers.
The training was led by a team of experts who included team leader Antonio Luzzi, criminal intelligence officer Ronand Picard, criminal expert Didier Sonnois and fingerprint expert Mylene Fleureut.
Tokens of appreciation were also distributed during the presentation ceremony.
Compol Elizabeth said with this training we are now at a decisive turning point in our battle against the crimes committed on the high seas.
“In a time where offenders are using more sophisticated ways to commit their crimes, it is appropriate that we become more efficient and also stay up to date with the latest technology and new techniques to fight crimes,” he said.
On behalf of the government and Seychelles Police, he thanked the Interpol for organising this eight-day training.
Ambassador Majesté-Larrouy said: “Following the crisis of piracy, many initiatives have emerged to support states directly affected by this scourge, including Seychelles. France in itself is directly involved in providing protection, using its navy, to fishing vessels based in Victoria and by providing the Seychelles government, since 2010, a maritime consultant.”
He also said that these equipment and training will be useful to treat other maritime threats such as drug trafficking, illegal fishing, arms trafficking and human trafficking.
Mr Luzzi said:“What the Interpol tries to do as the implementing partner of the European Union, is to implement a comprehensive approach. The EU wants us to tackle maritime crime but at the end of the day the skills that are learned by the trainees can also be applied to fight any type of crime,” he said.
He also highlighted the various other support by the Interpol such as the establishment of the AFIS system in 2013, the donation of the digital forensic lab in 2015 and extension of Interpol communication surface I-24/7 beyond the national central bureaus (NCB).
Mr Luzzi said further training is expected to take place in Seychelles as CRIMLEA phase II comes into place.
Yunas Victor, who has been serving the Seychelles Police Force for the past 27 years, joined the Marine Police since it opened about three years ago.
He said although all these years he has never received any experience in working with fingerprints, this training will help him know what to do when he arrives at a scene to keep it from getting compromised before the fingerprint experts get there for him to handover the scene to them.
Mr Victor described the training as complicated but he pulled through because he found it was important for him to learn about these new
