A seven-day training session for the Elite Force personnel has been started in all districts of the province in which they will be guided about handling of sensitive situations like protection of ballot boxes, dealing with returning officers, VIPs, first aid, fire fighting, command skills, unarmed combat, emergency response and coordination with other law enforcement agencies during the general elections 2018.
A police spokesman said on Saturday that the training is aimed at capacity building of the police officials to counter any untoward incident on the Election Day. He said the schedule of the training has been divided into two sessions.
According to the schedule, the pre-election training will be held in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Gujranwala region from 1st to 7th July followed by second phase training sessions from July 9th to July 15th in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Multan, DG Khan and Bahawalpur regions.
"On directions of IG Punjab Dr Syed Kaleem Imam, teams of trainers from the Elite Training School Lahore have been formed to meet the schedule of trainings. In all District Police Lines, the seven-day training will be held under the supervision of skilled instructors from District Elite Groups (DEG) and Special Elite Groups (SEG)," the spokesman said.
He said all district police officers have been directed to complete all preparation regarding effective conduct of training so that no gap or difficulty could be faced during election. As per the direction of IG Syed Kaleem Imam, Additional IG Elite Force Shahid Hanif will look over all phases of training and ensure its completion before 15th July, he added.
In this connection, he said, the IG Punjab has issued strict directions to all concerned police officers to ensure their full presence in the trainings and contact the central police office (CPO) for any kind of assistance or support.