Albania: ICITAP Partners with Albanian Security Academy to Deliver Crime Investigation Course

On May 28, the ICITAP mission in Tirana joined the Albanian Security Academy Rector and Dean of the Crime Faculty School in the certification ceremony of 21 Albanian State Police (ASP) Officers, who successfully completed the Crime Investigation Course (CIC), basic level. The Judicial Police Officers represented 12 judicial districts across Albania, and three officers received top honors, scoring a perfect 100 in all testing, a first among the more than 200 ASP Officers, who have graduated the CIC training program. The CIC training is an ICITAP-facilitated project designed to develop a range of investigation skills based on standards approved by the General Prosecution Office for Judicial Police Officers, who are engaged in the investigation of the most frequently reported crimes. The CIC is grounded in the Police Criminal Investigations Training Manual and Curriculum designed by ICITAP. The crime investigators training manual is endorsed and approved by the Prosecutor General, Director General of the ASP and the Rector of the Security Academy. The manual and curriculum were prepared in response to complaints of inadequate training and unethical interview practices by judicial police investigators and incorporates the legal requirements of the Albanian Criminal Procedures Code, Judicial Police Law, and the principles of the European Code of Police Ethics. The course introduces a national standard and best practice for criminal investigative interviewing. Supported by funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), ICITAP-Albania maintains an enduring partnership at the Security Academy to deliver current and relevant law enforcement training and professional development to Albanian law enforcement in furtherance of justice reform.