VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Seychelles Police Force on Monday began a five-day training programme on policy implementation, the second cohort of a programme introduced in 2023 to strengthen the force’s capacity to design, apply and monitor internal policy. The training is being run in partnership with the Guy Morel Institute, a leading local institution in the field of management development, and is being facilitated by Dr Sherley Marie of the Institute. The framing of the training as a ‘cohort’ programme reflects a deliberate move to build institutional capacity over time, rather than to deliver a one-off training event.
There are 19 of them comprising 17 officers and two civilians, namely the financial controller and one legal officer within the police force. They were selected based on their involvement with the development of the policy. The breadth of the cohort, in effect, brings together operational, financial and legal perspectives on policy implementation, and reflects the recognition within the force that good policy depends on a range of professional skills. The decision to include two civilians in the cohort is being read as a sign of the willingness of the force to draw on the wider public service for the design of its internal instruments.
The delegates started their training on Monday with facilitator Dr Sherley Marie from The Guy Morel Institute. Seychelles NATION spoke to the head of the ongoing programme, Natasha Derjaques who also heads the compliance unit, which oversees the implementation component within the force to ensure it is working properly. Ms Derjaques gave examples of some policies that will be addressed during this training. Some of the policies that we have in writing are the transport allowance policy, recruitment policy along with a uniform policy, said Ms Derjaques. The depth of the work on each of the policies is being read as a sign of the seriousness with which the force is approaching the work of internal reform.
She added that the cohort, however, is still in the development stage. She also shared that the police force have a programme termed the strategic review that focuses on different pillars. Because of this, we are training our members on how to go about this strategic review to better implement the policies, shared Ms Derjaques. Following this five-day training the team will be devising an implementation work plan. According to Ms Derjacques, they will be meeting up on Tuesday next week to start devising the implementation framework, and monitoring component which will eventually be shared with all officers, as they go along.
The training is the latest in a series of capacity-building initiatives within the Seychelles Police Force, and follows a first cohort that was run in 2023. The first cohort focused on the design of the policies, while the second cohort is focused on the implementation and monitoring of the same policies. The decision to separate the design and implementation phases is being read as a deliberate move to ensure that the policies are not only well-drafted, but also well-applied in practice. The training is also being read as part of a broader trend within the force to professionalise the management of its internal affairs, and to bring its practices into line with international best practice in police management.
