BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 14, 2004 — Twenty-five Iraqi Police Service officers began a joint FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration “Criminal Intelligence” course June 13, at the Adnon Palace training facility in the Green Zone, according to Office of Security Transition officials.

The students are assigned to the Intelligence Unit of the Ministry of Interior.

“The training is being conducted to build additional capacity within the Iraqi Police Service to effectively carry out their law enforcement duties in Iraq,” said Richard Miller, Civilian Police Assistance Training Team director of training and standards.

“The students, themselves, are very interested in the chance to learn from some of the best law enforcement instructors in the world,” said Miller.

Criminal intelligence training typically consists of instruction in the forms of organized crime, political corruption, terrorism and includes information on file handling, data collection,

analysis techniques, intelligence source and data evaluation, and intelligence information sharing. Other areas of instruction normally cover cash scams and money laundering crimes.

The 10-day course is the first of four that will be offered over the next two months. In the future, classes will include officer students from cities outside the Baghdad area.

The course, a product of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, a division of the Office of Security Transition, tasked with building, training and equipping the Iraqi civil security forces, is the result of an agreement with a number of U.S. federal law enforcement agencies to conduct similar courses in the country. Courses will focus on a variety of specialized training areas.

The special instruction is intended to increase the overall skills of the Iraqi Police Service in their continued effort to provide security in Iraq and advance the overall quality of law enforcement in the country.