The Eastern Africa Police Chiefs’ Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) conference, yesterday, entered its second day, with a call to strengthen forces to effectively deal with emerging ICT-led crimes such as terrorism and financial crimes.

While officially opening a meeting of EAPCCO technical committees, yesterday, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Stanley Nsabimana, noted that security challenges in the region and beyond have multiplied and become more complicated with the development of ICT, which greatly facilitates criminals in committing crimes.

"This is a policing challenge in the 21st Century, as we today face several emerging crimes, including financial and hi-tech crimes, human trafficking and terrorism to mention just a few,” said  Nsabimana.

The committees that are meeting include legal, gender, planning and training sub-committees.

Combating transnational and organised crime, Nsabimana stated, is not an end but a means to an end, which provides security and enhances social well being of the regional citizens, thus creating sustainable peace and security in the region

 "As custodians of security in our region, and as part of a wider global law enforcement community, let us always remember that an attack on any of us is an attack on us all, and none of us is safe from the dangers of transnational organised crimes and terrorism in particular,” he said.

He called for the strengthening of the resolve to work together to meet the policing challenges of this century.

The policing architecture, he said, calls for the attention of IT-led as well as Intelligence-led Policing which should be the guide to any investigations.

"The International terrorism which we used to hear in the news in other parts of the world has now reached our region and has created a new behaviour in the policing regime”.

Kenya and Tanzania were in 1998 bombed by terrorists when they attacked the US Embassies in the two countries.

 Last year, Al Shabab, a Somali-based terrorist group, killed over 70 people in Uganda as they watched the finals of the World Cup.

 Nsabimana explained that Rwanda has had a unique experience of Genocide in which over one million Tutsis were massacred in 1994.

 "Had there been international political will, committed and effective Police cooperation initiatives in time to intervene, these innocent lives wouldn’t have perished,” he observed.

 Maj. General Babeker Sumara, the Chairperson of the Permanent Coordinating Committee (PCC), noted that the application by South Sudan to join EAPCCO is added value to the organisation to further enhance its activities in the fight against trans-national crimes.

Ends