On June 16, 2015, Rwanda National Police (RNP) will mark its 15th anniversary, another milestone in safety, security.

RNP HISTORY

Before 1994, Rwanda had several para-military and Civil Defence forces entrusted to keep law and order. These included Gendarmerie Nationale under the Defense ministry, the Communal Police under the Ministry of Interior and the Judicial Police Inspectors under the Ministry of Justice.

In the year 2000, the Government of Rwanda thought it wise to have an organized, well coordinated and professional police force that would effectively deal with security challenges that were relatively high at the time.

This led to the merger of the three institutions in June 2000, forming the Rwanda National Police (RNP) under Law No 09/2000 of June 16, 2000, which determines the powers, responsibilities, organization and functioning of the institution as repealed by the law No 46/2010 of 14th December, 2010.

Because of our strong partners, including the general public, we are now a measure of professionalism. The last fifteen years of the RNP existence have been a milestone in promoting and sustaining safety, security and peace, not only in Rwanda but also across borders in peacekeeping activitiesDue to this valuable partnership, RNP is walking the talk in varied policing disciplines in pursuit for its VISION - People in Rwanda are Safe, Involved and Reassured. This partnership has also helped to realize our MISSION - dedicated to the delivery of high quality services, accountability and transparency, safeguard the rule of law and provide a safe and crime free environment for all. The ‘Police Week 2015’ is therefore a moment to reignite crime prevention awareness, appreciate commitment and support of our partners in policing and celebrate achievements.

ACHIEVEMENTS

RNP achievements can be viewed under the following priority areas;

CAPACITY BUILDING

The greatest milestone is that the force has been able to grow in numbers by over 200% since 2000, with women, who were hardly part of the new police force at the time, now comprising over 20% of the current total force.

This is core to the Vision of the Rwanda National Police. It is in line with the aspiration of professionalising the force, making it enlightened, effective, efficient and accountable. Thus, the force has established and face-lifted its various policing disciplines, which include;

Transforming policing institutions from scratch to grace required strong and committed leadership of which RNP has enjoyed since its inception. Against this firm foundation, RNP has since equipped itself with modern policing tools, skills and knowledge, reinforced training including 7 cadet and 11 basic training intakes conducted, professional and on-job trainings, acquired state-of-art equipment like firefighting and rescue crane vehicles, marine boats, public order gadgets and other specialized vehicles and tools in policing.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 

Currently, the force is constructing its General Headquarters and other fleet of modern facilities, while others have been completed.

Establishment of RNP Schools: The National Police College (NPC), Police Training School (PTS) and the Counter-Terror Training Centre (CTTC) are at the heart of training and skills improvement, not only for Rwandan police personnel, but also for police forces from the continent.