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OPERATIONAL
COMMANDER Article and photographs: Supt Erica Holtzhausen Paarl Leadership School hosted the first ever Operational Commander Training Programme to be attended only by female trainees. The twenty female trainees on the course included directors, senior superintendents and superintendents. These officers are station commissioners; the provincial heads of Crime Prevention, Crime Intelligence and Legal Services as well as unit commanders and company commanders (ACCU).
The trainees all agreed that the programme was highly stressful. They were all tired as they had been tested to the end of their limits. However, not one regretted having done the programme. “It has been worth my while. Every officer should do this course, whether he/she is operational or not - what we have learnt here is invaluable. I feel ready for any challenge,” said Snr Supt Jean Abrahams Course presenter Supt Belinda Stephens said that the course is a best practices development that had been adapted from several other policing agencies’ courses to fit circumstances in South Africa. Other African policing agencies’ members are also being trained here on the same model. Planning without assessment will not happen again. These operational commanders are ready to share their newly acquired knowledge with colleagues at station and unit level. |
The
two-week programme focused on the planning and
management of police operations. The modules addressed
included information gathering, risk analysis, assessment,
tactical options, designing of operational concepts, drawing
of ops layouts, map reading, building of models, writing of
operational plans, briefing and debriefing, JOC concept and
command and control.