Panjshir ANP first to graduate CSI training

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – More than 20 Afghan National Police members from Panjshir Province were the first to graduate from a crime scene investigation class in Bazarak Municipality, Afghanistan, May 24.

 

Task Force Red Bulls rule-of-law office funded the four-day class, held by the law enforcement professionals attached to the Panjshir Embedded Training Team. It consisted of Afghan rule-of-law criminal procedures, crime scene procedures from the initial investigation through the prosecution in court and the physical collection and preservation of evidence to be presented in court.

“Before the graduation, we wanted the class to break into teams and work in simulated crime scenes,” said Paul Protzenko, a law enforcement professional, and Myrtle Beach, S.C., native. “We set up a murder/homicide scene and a breaking/entering situation. The teams used investigation kits and got right to work on collecting evidence and evaluating the crime scenes.”

Using the training they learned in the CSI class, the students established specific roles for the investigation, collected biometrics of the witnesses and a victim and obtained evidence from the crime scenes, including weapons and fingerprints.

The students split up their roles in the investigations to include the photographer, evidence collector, witness interviewer and sketch artist. The teams used investigation kits provided by the rule-of-law office to accurately pull up fingerprints and collect all evidence found.

“For the actual time in class being so short, those in attendance were very eager to learn new investigative skills and how to use the kits,” Brown said. “This is the first investigative training that went a little more in depth into lifting fingerprints, taking better crime scene photographs and information about ballistics from weapons.”

Following the review and evaluation of the investigations, Afghan National Police Brig. Gen. Qasim Jangalbagh, the Panjshir Provincial Police Chief, joined the class to pass out certificates during the graduation.

“I appreciate the instructors for having this crucial training,” said Qasim, through an interpreter. “It is very beneficial and I hope for more crimes to be solved with the knowledge of these new skills and resources.”

Three more classes will be held to train more than 60 ANP members. Investigation kits will also be signed out to individual units of the members that attended, including the Criminal Investigation Division, Afghan National Directorate of Security and Counter-Narcotic and Intelligence units.

“When many of us started as investigators, practical training was never given,” said ANP Deputy Daber of the CID department at the Provincial Headquarters, through an interpreter. “Now that we all have had more hands-on practice with professionals, we’re confident that we’ll be able to catch guilty suspects, using the knowledge and kits we attained from the class.”