Over 184 Tourism Police Officers completed a one month course in tourism security at Police Training School, Kabalye, Masindi on Friday.
The Officers were passed out by the Inspector General of Police, Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura who advised them to be on alert for terrorist activities in the country.
He called upon them to go out and protect lives of tourists and their properties since their security is venerable.
“It’s important to develop Tourism Police to counter the threat of terrorists who might target them (tourists) when they are here,” Lt. Gen. Kayihura said.
According to the press release, Kayihura said that Kampala is one of the safest cities in the world and this has made it possible for tourists to come to Uganda because of the secure environment in the capital city.
He promised that the Uganda Police Force would continue to build systems and capacity to meet the challenges of modern policing and thanked the American government for their support towards capacity building in the Force.
The IGP also thanked the people of Kanungu district for offering the Force, land where it will construct a Counter Terrorism training center.
The trainees covered several topics, including physical fitness training, security procedures and concepts, weapon training, hostage rescue procedures, bomb awareness, operational planning, tourism laws, hospitality and customer care.
They also had facilitators from the Uganda Tourism Board and Uganda Wild life Authority.
The officers will be deployed in tourist centers, hotels, tourist attraction sites, and National Parks to protect tourists and NOT animals.
Source: Independent
