Crime scene management in Kandahar

Tuesday evening. The sun is about to set. A tragedy occurred in a small community east of Kandahar where everyone knows each other. There is a body. The man, around 30 years old, is not showing any signs of life. Two individuals are injured, a women and a teenage boy. Police officers just arrived on site. They are securing the scene and beginning their investigation by taking pictures and video and gathering reports from witnesses. That information will be later downloaded and stored to a laptop at the police station for a further investigation.

All of the equipment they are using is the same as would be found at any crime scene examination in Canada.

This fictive scenario is the type of process we hope to see happening with the new Afghan National Police (ANP) graduates of the first Basic Crime Scene Management Course. Five members of the ANP Criminal Investigation Division completed the six-week training. The students were hand-picked by their supervisors to participate in the course conducted by us at the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT) training center.

Their Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) was very supportive. He said ANP officers have learned many new skills to help them better investigate criminal acts in Kandahar so they can more easily bring criminals to justice.

This sounds like any Canadian police forces mandate to provide safety and security to their communities.

The course is the first step in an ongoing training and mentoring effort to have CIVPOL support the immediate needs of the criminal investigations units of the ANP. Our goal is to teach officers new skills to help them better investigate criminal acts in Kandahar so they can improve the odds of a successful criminal prosecution.

The students have acquired the skills to properly record, document, and collect evidence at crime scenes. These young men showed dedication and eagerness to learn a large volume of technical skills in a relatively short period of time. I am confident that these investigators will make an immediate impact on the investigative process by providing professional and effective crime scene examinations.

Sergeant Steve Kerr, Basic Crime Scene Management Course instructor
Ottawa Police Service