FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Genatempo
Director – Strategic Operations
Ph: 732-766-2729
NPSS Group Designs Ethnic Terrorism and Community Policing Programs for Croatian Ministry of Interior
ZAGREB, Croatia - June 30, 2006 – NPSS President Paul Goldenberg along with the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today commended the Croatian authorities for their efforts to fight hate-motivated crime.
Paul Goldenberg and ODIHR Director Christian Strohal referred in particular to enhanced legislation, including a definition of hate crime incorporated into the criminal code of Croatia. They also praised the fact Croatia has become the first country in the region to offer its police officers training in combating such crimes.
The NPSS Group of specialized hate crime trainers were supporting and evaluating the hate crimes training programme on behalf of the OSCE and its member states. All members of the team were proud of the efforts of their Croatian partners, and very pleased with the training outcomes.
This Croatian segment of the programme confirmed the NPSS vision of the need to train resident experts in participating states, and validated the structure of the training programme. NPSS had been responsible for the development and delivery of a host of training tools, which included hundreds of pages of background material, innovative lesson plans, presentation materials, hand-outs, case studies etc. The success of the Croatian programme validates the innovative structure and design of the NPSS training system.
Today is the final day of an inaugural training course in Zagreb for Croatian police officers in investigating and responding to hate motivated crime. The Croatian government will also sign a memorandum of agreement with the OSCE/ODIHR committing it to institutionalize hate crime training within the existing national curriculum for police training.
"Croatia is giving a lead to the region by developing its capacity to respond to hate crimes. This is done by improving relationships between the law enforcement agencies and the communities they police, and in enhancing security and justice for those groups which are affected by hate-motivated crimes," said Ambassador Strohal.
The NPSS lead police-training programme is a part of the OSCE's efforts to combat hate crime and is tailored to each country's specific circumstances. NPSS piloted the programme last year in Hungary and Spain.
For the last three days, nine police trainers have been trained by Croatian police experts with support from the international NPSS team. They have been instructed in effective first response, investigation, intelligence-gathering and information-sharing as well as successful management of relations with victims, witnesses and affected communities.
“The success here in Zagreb is very rewarding for NPSS, to see this unique and innovative programme brought to life through the efforts of our international team in support of the Croatian National Police trainers, this has been a major step forward in the international fight against hate and intolerance, and all of us at NPSS are very proud to have been at the forefront of this effort.” said Goldenberg.
The NPSS Group is proud and honored to be granted the opportunity to engage with the police, legislators, prosecutors and non-governmental agencies in the Ukraine in furtherance of the principals of the programme, and in order to ensure that the growth and development of the programme meets their needs and includes their input and ideas.
Members of the NPSS Group implementation team are expected to be on the ground in Kiev, Ukraine during late November, 2005 to commence the consultation phase of the programme. The programme will be completed with the training programme delivery which is expected sometime in early 2006.
The National Public Safety Strategy Group is an international dynamic consortium of experts in community safety, national security, government relations and civic affairs. The NPSS Group provides services to governments around the globe, at the national, regional and local level, while assisting the private sector in the provisioning of services and supplies to meet governments’ needs.
For further information in this programme, the Police Experts Meeting or the OSCE, please contact Mark Genatempo – Director, Strategic Operations, Cardinal Point Strategies at 732-766-2927.