Palestinian, Israeli cops hold joint policing forum

Session focuses on investigations and intelligence-gathering.

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
pa police 298.88 (photo credit: AP)
pa police 298.88
(photo credit: AP)
A group of Palestinian and Israeli law enforcement officers met Wednesday for a discussion of crime-fighting techniques and cooperation. The Wednesday meeting was the second time the forum of Palestinian police and representatives from the Israel Police's Judea and Samaria District met at the Neve Ilan Conference Center to discuss joint policing strategies. The conference was held under the sponsorship of EUCOPPS, an organization working to help democratize and instruct the Palestinian Authority law enforcement system. Wednesday's session focused on investigations and intelligence-gathering, and participants included Samaria and Judea District Chief Cmdr. Shlomi Ka'atabi and district coordination officer Dep.-Cmdr. Dani Yisrael. The Palestinian delegation was led by Assistant Police Commissioner Lt.-Cmdr. Firas Alamla and Intelligence and Investigations Chief Asst.-Cmdr. Jabar A'asfur. The police officers discussed ways of cooperating on criminal activity such as vehicle and property theft, drug trafficking, and use of forged documents. Samaria and Judea Police emphasized Wednesday following the conference that dialogues like the one held earlier in the day were important trust-building steps between the two policing bodies. "This day is one of great importance in the professional sense between the two organizations, which work side-by-side in a complex situation," said Ka'atabi. "The goal is to develop dialogue that will lead to useful and professional channels of communication in the different crime-related fields."