College Trains Vigilantes In Dog Handling

The Imo State College of Advanced Professionals Studies
(ICAPS), has trained a special vigilante taskforce in dog handling to
strengthen intervention and surveillance operations in communities in the
state.

Mr David Day, the President of the College, told The Tide on
Tuesday in Owerri that the training was done in collaboration with Acid
Homeland Security, an outfit based in the U.S.

According to Day, the exercise is part of the Imo security
network initiative of the state governor, Rochas Okoroacha.

“The vigilantes who we have trained were recruited from the
27 local government areas and after this they should be able to help the police
by community policing and passing information to them for proper action.

“These are all part of our practical hands-on activities
aimed at improving public safety personnel and increase the level of crime
awareness in the people,’’ he said.

Mr Rodney Jordan, the trainer and representative of Acid
Homeland Security commended the vigilantes, adding that they had shown a deep
commitment to tackling the issue of security in the state.

Jordan said that they had become highly skilled in the short
while they had been trained, noting “In the U.S., we only train people who have
had years of experience in the police force in dog handling, but we have mad
exceptions in these case.

“These men and women were all evaluated psychologically and
medically, and we also conducted background checks to be sure we are not
training the wrong kind of people in these skills,” he said, adding  that the vigilantes would partner with the
police after their training.