Philippines: ICITAP Sponsors Study Tour for Philippines National Police Internal Affairs Service

From November 5 to 11, ICITAP-Philippines led a delegation of the Philippines National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service (IAS) on a U.S. Department of State (DOS), Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)-funded study tour to Los Angeles, CA, and Baltimore, MD.  The PNP IAS delegation included the IAS Inspector General as well as several members of his staff and encompassed visits to and briefings by the Beverly Hills Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in California, followed by the Montgomery County Department of Police and Baltimore Police Department in Maryland. The study tour was arranged, as part of the broader ICITAP-Philippines PNP IAS capacity building efforts, funded by INL and was designed to expose IAS to internal affairs best practices, of both medium and large U.S. law enforcement agencies.  Host agency briefings, focused on the role of internal affairs, investigating citizen and administrative complaints; use of Force investigations; case management strategies coinciding with data tracking systems; requirements for selecting investigators; and the use of social media and community outreach.  Additionally, host agencies presented their processes, policies, and procedures used within each department and discussed the positive and negative nuances when conducting internal affairs investigations.  One of the central themes throughout each presentation was building trust and responsiveness with the public and the communities they serve.  A tour of Los Angeles Olvera Street, El Pueblo de Los Angeles historical monument 19th century plaza, tours of the host agencies as well as historical locations in Washington DC were high points of the trip.  ICITAP Assistant Director for Asia and the Pacific Andrea Simic joined the group during the Maryland portion of the study tour. The information presented during the study tour will be discussed and analyzed by the Senior Law Enforcement Advisors and PNP IAS team members, to determine how it can be applied in future IAS training, as well as existing PNP/IAS policy, procedures, and Philippines law.  The study tour was highly successful and well received by the delegation.