The Ondo State Police Command on Tuesday commenced training for 160 officers of the command on intelligence gathering to enhance their productivity.
The trainee officers were drawn from all the police divisions across the 18 local government areas of the state
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilfred Afolabi, who declared the three-day training open in Akure, the state capital, said the command under his watch was focusing on enhancing intelligence gathering to tackle security challenges across the state.
In the event, themed ‘Basic Intelligence Course’, the commissioner explained that intelligence gathering and firmness were crucial for ensuring that a proactive measure was taken to lead to a peaceful state.
According to him, through the training, the participants would be better positioned to bridge the existing gaps, rebuild public trust, and enhance the overall security architecture of communities across the 18 council areas of the state. He added that the participants would leverage intelligence-gathering tools to drive policing strategies and prevent crimes in the coastal state.
Afolabi said, “Intelligence gathering is one of the most important sections that is instrumental to breakthroughs when it comes to policing, and it’s so unfortunate that it’s one aspect that is so neglected.
“When I was the Assistant Commissioner of Police, OC Intelligence, Lagos, It gave me the opportunity to know that wherever I find myself, I should pursue the subject of intelligence gathering holistically. So, what we see happening today did not come by accident. And to put the icing on the cake, it falls in line with the agenda of our Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun.
“The IGP too feels so concerned about the subject of intelligence, and just two weeks ago, he was in Ilorin to revamp the intelligence school. Part of his agenda, too, is on capacity building because we can’t be talking about professionalism, and then we exclude training. The catalyst that brings out professionalism is training and capacity building. You will discover that since I arrived, that has been my focus.”
The CP stressed that intelligence gathering remained the cornerstone of effective policing, serving as the foundation upon which operational efficiency and successful law enforcement activities are built.
“You may not see the effects in the shortest time because training has what they call a long-lasting effect now; it may be when I finally leave this place, but one thing I can tell you is that we are laying a long-lasting foundation which will go a long way to address the security challenges we are facing today.
“When I did what they call system analysis, I discovered that there was nothing like intelligence when I arrived here,” the police boss emphasised.
