Community policing approach to countering violent extremism focus of OSCE-supported training course in Sarajevo

SARAJEVO, 15 May 2018 – A two-day training course for 20 police officers from Canton Sarajevo, titled Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Leads to Terrorism: A Community Policing Approach, concluded today in Sarajevo.

Organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in co-operation with the Transnational Threats Department of the OSCE Secretariat and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the course is the first in a series that will be conducted for police officers throughout BiH.

“Violent extremism is a societal problem that is best prevented at an early stage,” said Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH Bruce G. Berton. “That is why our Mission works with a broad range of social groups in its countering violent extremism efforts, including with the law enforcement agencies at the local level that play an important role in the prevention process.”

Trevor Service, Security Sector Engagement Consultant and the course trainer, said: “The course recognizes the fact that countering and preventing violent extremism cannot be done solely by police and security services.” He added that the training course aims to highlight the need for community co-operation with the police in preventing this issue.

“We are talking about building the trust of the local community in the police so as to prevent certain asocial behaviours that can potentially lead to violent extremism, radicalization, and terrorism,” said Mirza Smajic, the professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of University of Sarajevo.

The course was designed on the basis of the OSCE guidebook Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Leads to Terrorism: A Community Policing Approach.