Sam Philip
Ondo State Police Command on Tuesday began the training of 200 personnel in intelligence gathering.
The 3-day training in basic intelligence gathering, according to the state Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, became necessary to enhance the skills of the participants with a view to improving security architecture of the state.
Afolabi, who declared that programme open in Akure, the state capital, the Commissioner of Police said intelligence gathering and firmness are crucial in providing security for lives and property.
The training tagged: “Basic Intelligence Course,” would intensified public trust as the participants would leverage on intelligence gathering skills to drive policing in the state.
Afolabi said: “Intelligence gathering is one of the most important sections that are instrumental to breakthrough when it comes to policing and it’s so unfortunate that it’s one aspect that is so neglected.
“When I was the Assistant Commissioner of Police, OC Intelligence, Lagos, It gave me the opportunity to know that wherever I find myself, I should pursue the subject of intelligence gathering holistically.
“So, what we see happening today didn’t come by accident. And to put the icing on the cake, it falls in line with the agenda of our Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun.
“The IGP too feels so concerned about the subject of intelligence. Just two weeks ago, he was in Ilorin to revamp the intelligence school. Part of his agenda, too is on capacity-building because we can’t be talking about professionalism, and then we exclude training.
“The catalyst that brings out professionalism is training, capacity-building. And you will discover that since I arrived, that has been my focus.
“You may not see the effects in the shortest time because training has what they call long-lasting effect. Now, it may be when I finally leave this place, but one thing I can tell you is that we are laying a long-lasting foundation which will go a long way to address the security challenges we are facing today.
“When I did what they call system analysis, I discovered that there was nothing like intelligence when I arrived here.”