The Chief of Public Security, Lt-General Tariq Al Hassan, hailed the vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to empower Bahrain’s youth to promote their role in the comprehensive development. He valued the support of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for youth programmes to build youth’s capabilities and role in society.
He highlighted that while receiving the Future Bet 2 Programme participants for youth aged 18-30. The Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD) organised the meeting in cooperation with the Royal Academy of Police (RAP).
The Chief highlighted the development in the work philosophy and approach of the Interior Ministry through the strategic vision of His Excellency Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa for Bahrain Police to be among the best forces in the world, per international standards. The focus is also for the force to be pioneering, friendly, just and firm.
HE Interior Minister also adopted the development and modernisation strategy to turn the vision into a reality, focusing on specific and clear goals to build a professional and modern police system to face local, regional and international challenges. It adopts partnerships as a foundation for the initiatives and operations. It enhances readiness and preparations to prevent and sense crises and disasters to deal with and recover from them quickly and with less damage.
The vision also promotes adopting a general approach to public security based on fast response, activeness, humanity, transparency and accountability with a focus on partnership and the updated police good conduct guide.
The Chief noted that the approach focuses on human resources to encourage the ministry’s affiliates to develop their skills, of which 44 officers, commissioned officers and civilians obtained their PhDs in various disciplines, in addition to 704 affiliates who obtained their masters’ degrees.
He said that the Interior Ministry, represented by the Operations Directorate of the Public Security Presidency, has won third place for the best police call centre in the Dubai International Police Award among 500 participating entities worldwide. Bahrain ranked fourth in the world in the security index and ranked third in dealing with organised crime in the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 at the World Economic Forum in Geneva.
He stressed that the Interior Ministry is dedicated to enhancing the educational system and updating the educational and training curricula to keep pace with the increasing security changes and challenges, as the Academy works to update its programmes to meet security changes and challenges while continuously following up these programmes to evaluate and develop them, in addition to improving the quality standards of education and training.
The Chief added that within the framework of the national capacity-building programme and in the implementation of the national strategy for civil protection, the National Disaster Management is working to qualify personnel in civil protection and disaster risk reduction and to prepare a comprehensive national guide for civil emergency exercises.
He pointed out that in the context of facing new threats arising from modern technology, the ministry has initiated the preparation of strategies that keep pace with the challenges, including the adoption of the concept of smart police and the expansion of the use of artificial intelligence applications in smart cities, and the use of smart systems in its projects, such as the e-security siege project, the Geographical Security System ( GSS), disaster management system and radioactive contamination monitoring.
He highlighted the adoption of several crime prevention initiatives, projects and programmes, including the development of the role of the community police and the governorates. Along with the expansion of the security culture base and the protection of youth from violence and extremism through the Maan (together) programme against violence and addiction, the number of beneficiaries of the programme reached 136,000 students, representing 93% of public schools.
He hailed the initiatives launched by HE Interior Minister, including the National Plan to Promote the Spirit of Belonging to the Nation and Reinforce the Values of Nationalism to promote loyalty among youth.
He said that the Interior Ministry works through the General Directorate of Verdict Enforcement and Alternative Sentencing to protect family stability and rehabilitate convicts, which 5,682 individuals have benefited from the Alternative Sanctions and Measures Law.
The Chief highlighted the reduction in the crime rates due to community awareness and efforts of the Interior Ministry in tackling security and social issues and fighting crimes. The ministry's efforts include promoting community partnership, forming Family and Children Protection Offices at the Police Directorates, monitoring social media and religious speeches and keeping pace with urban development to expand security services.
The Chief concluded the meeting by thanking the BIPD for organising the event, hailing the initiatives, and wishing the participants the best.
