18 April 2012 – In a continuing effort to control crime in rural areas, UN Police and Upper Nile State City Council today began a five-day community policing course for police officers, teachers, chiefs, religious leaders, local community based organizations and women in the capital Malakal.

Facilitated by UN Police (UNPOL) and funded by Malakal City Council, the training drew 37 participants from across the capital.

UNPOL County Support Base Team Leader Jayanti Mandasari, said community policing training was aimed at establishing a mutual partnership between the police and community.

"This community policing training will enhance mutual relations between the police and the community," he said. "The police cannot operate without the community (and) nor will the community operate without the police."

An expected outcome of the training would be establishment of a Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), Mr. Mandasari said.

"This is the first time for the police and the community leaders to come together, noted Paramount Chief Mojwok Lwal. "This training will improve the working mechanism between the police and the community, in order to prevent crimes."

Chief Lwal urged participants to draw in as much knowledge as they could about community policing, stressing that it would help them tackle local criminals like the Nguas gang.

As part of its mandate to strengthen the South Sudan Police Services capacity to maintain public order, UNMISS in partnership with the UN Development Programme has been providing this training in the country's different states.