THE regional police joint exercise will now be held annually to equip regional forces with modern techniques in the fight against trans-border and organised crimes.This was announced by the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel Gasana, while officiating at the closure of the just concluded Police Command Post Exercise (PCPX) held in Kigali.The exercise is the regional body’s initiative adopted in 2010 in Khartoum – Sudan, which brings together officers from member states to jointly exchange ideas and learn new techniques in combating crime.Gasana, who is also the Chairman of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO), said the exercise is expected to reach a common understanding and get best practices jointly, to tackle security challenges in the region."The exercise is seen as a response to increased security challenges in the region such as terrorism, human and drug trafficking and piracy, which have affected some of the member states such as Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and  the 2010 twin bomb attacks in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, which killed over 70 people,” he said.Gasana described the joint efforts as the pride of EAPCCO and stated that although there could still be challenges, it was a great achievement having moved from commitment to action to create a safe region.He noted that with the introduction of the international police body –Interpol – communication tool – I-24/7, countries will effectively fight crimes, if they work jointly through timely information exchange and sharing of best practices.The communication tool connects countries to share information, trace and apprehend fugitives.The concluded exercise brought together 58 participants from 12 member states, covered three topics of counter terrorism, human trafficking and Peace Support Operations.The exercise director, Felix Namuhoranye, appealed for more time to be allocated to the exercise, adding that seven days were not enough to exhaust all the topics.He asked member states to have shared responsibilities in planning such exercises.