22013: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Haitians tap Dade police's expertise (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, May. 22, 2004




MIAMI-DADE


Haitians tap Dade police's expertise

A tour of the Miami-Dade Police Department gave Haitian security officials a
glimpse of state-of-the-art police facilities and an opportunity to tap the
department's expertise.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


While visiting the Miami-Dade Police Department on Friday to pick up tips on
rebuilding law enforcement in his country, Haiti's new interior minister
said he has no doubt his government will be able to disarm gangs and make
the country safe for national elections planned for late next year.

Hérard Abraham, the minister of interior and national security, and Col.
Apollos Laurore, the National Security Council deputy director, met with new
Miami-Dade Police Director Bobbie Parker and took a brief tour of the
facility's state-of-the-art crime lab.

The visit comes as Haiti's interim government, led by former South Florida
resident Gerard Latortue, is attempting to disarm gangs and integrate former
military soldiers in its ill-trained and shrunken police force.

''I believe we will be able to make great progress,'' Abraham told The
Herald.

Abraham, impressed by what he heard from Parker about his department's
policing procedures and recruitment efforts, said he hopes to follow up with
a seminar that would allow the Haitian government to tap Miami-Dade's
expertise.

''We could do it at home or they could come here,'' Abraham said.

Parker said he would support such a measure.

''If they asked for our assistance we would provide it,'' said Parker,
noting that it would have to come as a joint request from the Haitian
government and the Miami-Dade County Commission.

Parker, who later attended a reception with the Haitian community at a North
Miami restaurant, said he also would support any requests by the
department's Creole-speaking officers to take a leave of absence to travel
to Haiti in order to assist the country's police.

Abraham, a retired Haitian army general who lived in Miami-Dade before
accepting the job as minister, was most impressed by the department's crime
lab, where technicians last year analyzed 22,000 pieces of evidence from
across the county.

While he would love to see such a lab in Haiti, Abraham said an even more
pressing need for Haiti was a system that would allow police to communicate
with each other and the various agencies around the country.


    email this       print this       license this       reprint this

_________________________________________________________________
Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee®
Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963