OSCE co-organizes cross-border training seminar on risk profiling in Kazakhstan

An OSCE-supported five-day cross-border training seminar on risk profiling at border checkpoints, which began in Karasu, Kazakhstan on 26 March 2018, is nearing conclusion.

Twelve officers of the Border Service of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee and eight officers of the State Border Service of Kyrgyzstan took part in the event. Experts from the Central Asian Regional Information Co-ordination Centre for Combating Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors (CARICC), the Academy of the Border Service of the Committee for National Security of Kazakhstan and the Association of Psychologists of Kazakhstan conducted the seminar.  They instructed personnel in employing statistical instruments to analyse information on criminal incidents and develop an actionable in-depth risk profile to assist in countering transnational threats. 

The curriculum included techniques for in-depth psychological analysis of a suspect’s verbal and non-verbal behaviour as well as ways to identify specific risk indicators. A number of practical exercises provided the participants with the opportunity to apply their newly acquired knowledge.

The seminar was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US Embassy in Astana, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Office for Central Asia, and the Border Service of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee.

It was one of a series organized by the Office, aimed at enhancing the host country’s border security and promoting integrated border security management while countering transnational threats.

The series builds on a two-year project for border guards, organized in different locations around Kazakhstan for more than 180 border service officers. A follow-up event is scheduled to take place later this year in Kostanai.