U.S. Embassy Photo Release

June 14, 2007

 

 

U.S. Government Donates Equipment to Region 13 Police to Assist in Investigations

 

 

 

 

Police officials in Region 13 (Caraga) are now better equipped to investigate instances of terrorism, thanks to an equipment donation from the U.S. Department of State’s Anti-terrorism Assistance Program (ATA).

 

In a June 7 ceremony, U.S. officials donated five cases of equipment to the Philippine National Police – Region 13 to assist them in conducting post-blast investigations.  The donated equipment includes widescreen laptop computers, portable printers, digital cameras, distance laser rangefinders, and handheld global positioning system (GPS) equipment.  Pictured above are U.S. Embassy ATA officials handing over a sample of the equipment to representatives of PNP Region 13.

 

Several police investigators in Region 13 recently completed a three-week course on Post-Blast Investigation held in General Santos City.  The U.S. Government’s ATA program sponsored the course and brought in expert trainers to work with the 28 PNP attendees, who are all assigned to Bomb Units in Mindanao.  This donation and the training gives these investigators the tools necessary to effectively carry out their jobs and collect valuable physical evidence when investigating criminal and terrorism cases. 

 

The American people also donated equipment to the PNP in Davao and General Santos City as part of the three-work course.  The Post-Blast Investigation course is designed for experienced criminal investigators, bomb technicians, and other explosives investigators who are directly or indirectly involved in the investigation of explosions and/or bombings. 

 

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