Indonesia: ICITAP Participates in Joint Quality Management/Accreditation Workshop with National Police Central Forensic Laboratory

On October 25, the ICITAP-Indonesia mission provided an update on its assistance to the Indonesian National Police (INP) Central Forensic Laboratory (Puslabfor) Quality Management Team (QMT). In a demonstration of ownership and sustainability of the international accreditation process, the INP Puslabfor QMT organized and sponsored a joint training-workshop event, inviting the ICITAP Forensic Development Project (FDP) Senior Forensic Advisor to act as the SME for Internal Audit Training and to participate in the INP Puslabfor accreditation manuals revision process.  Thirty-two participants were awarded ICITAP Certificates at the successful completion of the training to replenish their teams of certified auditors under ISO/IEC 17025:2017, as several previously trained delegates had retired.  During the revision of the accreditation manuals, emphasis was placed on having the Laboratory Manual serve as a guide to all staff, particularly new staff, rather than being structured to satisfy the ISO standard. Significant progress was made, and the newly appointed INP QMT leader has brought a new energy with him to further stimulate the attendees to develop greater ownership and understanding of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard and the importance of regularly reviewing all the manuals, to strengthen the sustainability of their accreditation status going forward.  This mutual investment by INP into the FDP-QMA project provides a significant return on ICITAP’s investment in moving the entire nine INP Labfor system to full accreditation status with currently five Labfors fully accredited, two more at 90%+ accredited, and the remaining two newer regional Labfors accredited in their narcotics scope. Full accreditation should occur in 2023.  Two additional regional Labfors (bringing the total to 11) will come online in the next two months as part of the INP’s recognition of the value of forensic evidence and their program to expand forensic services capability across Indonesia to each of the provinces.