Police officers must continuously improve their skills in criminal investigations and evidence analysis in order to foster lasting peace and security in the country.

The message was delivered by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Morris Murigo, the Deputy Commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), during the opening of a training workshop for officers in the department in Kigali.

The five-day training is designed to encourage and promote sharing of information, experiences, ideas and knowledge on techniques relating to criminal investigations.

In his address, CSP Murigo urged the 20 trainees to put their skills to use by conducting themselves professionally and adapting to new technologies and techniques in investigations.

"We will always conduct on-the-job training in order to improve officers’ skills. Learning should be a continuous process. Therefore, we should always be innovative in our work,” he said.

"Do not become complacent. Instead, be ready to learn new methods and techniques. A professional officer must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to handle every situation,” he added.

Subjects officers trained in include influence of technology on investigations, standard parameters for cordoning murder, rape and burglary scenes, among others.

In 2012, Rwanda National Police (RNP) launched the CID School as a centre of excellence to further facilitate crime investigation through continuous training.

The building, which has three conference halls, has a capacity to accommodate over 120 people, and has been at the helm of offering refresher courses for police officers, mostly in crime investigation and intelligence.

Recently, the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, met over 50 CID officers and urged them to work harder in this New Year by improving the quality of investigations in order to tackle emerging crimes like cybercrimes, terrorism, human trafficking and the like.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw