Police learn Dutch investigation techniques

PHUKET CITY: Thirty senior police officers from Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga yesterday completed a two-week course in applying analytical techniques to crime investigations, presented by Dutch crime experts. Pol Col Preecha Samuthpoaraya, Deputy Commander for Administration of Police Region 8, based in Surat Thani, told the Gazette that the main objective of the project was to reduce the number of wrongful arrests and incarcerations by encouraging Thai police detectives to take a more analytical approach to investigations. The project, coordinated jointly by the Royal Thai Police and the Dutch government, was held at the Phuket Pavillion Hotel from May 15 to May 28. “The speaker stressed the need to follow step-by-step procedures and a scientific approach to weighing the relevance of all information in a case,” said Col Preecha. “In the past we didn’t use such a systematic approach,” he said. Ton Bloem, Crime Analyst with the Amsterdam Police, told the Gazette that the course included both theoretical and practical material, allowing officers to practice applying the techniques they had been taught. “It’s the same course we run in Holland. It gives policemen the capability of using crime analysis techniques for a better understanding of information, so they they can use it in their investigations to get better results. In the two weeks there is a lot of practice and theory.” He added that he was happy to have had the chance to exchange knowledge with Thai police and was thankful for the hospitality his group had received throughout their stay.