The second training session, launched on 29 March 2025, aims to equip municipal police officers with the skills needed to fight urban disorder in towns and cities. The ceremony was chaired by the DG/NASLA and the Assistant Commander of the Mutengene Police Training College (COM-CIAP).
On 29 March 2025, the National School of Local Administration (NASLA) officially launched the 2nd training session for municipal police officers. This intensive three-month training course (560 hours) welcomes 109 trainees from 12 councils in Cameroon. Yaounde 4, Mokolo and many other councils are well represented. This initiative is part of a drive to professionalise the municipal police force. It also aims at improving relations with the population, particularly after a number of incidents that emphasised the urgent need to build the capacity of officers. Such was the case of the tragedy that occurred on 17 April 2024 in the city of Yaounde, where the intervention of a municipal officer led to the death of a commercial motorbike rider and his passenger.
The training programme, approved by the Minister of decentralization, is rigorous and comprehensive. It includes theoretical and practical modules covering a wide range of essential skills for the job. These include a legal module focusing on human rights and the legal limits of intervention; an administrative module covering the drafting of official documents; a stress management and non-violent communication module for better interaction with the public; a module combining physical preparation and civic education; and finally, a practical module based on simulations of real-life situations, including first-aid exercises, traffic management and vehicle immobilisation procedures.
As stated by the Director General of NASLA, “A municipal police officer is only someone who has been trained at NASLA. It is therefore our duty and our mission to put in place the mechanism that will enable those who want to comply with current regulations to do so by sending their officers here for training". In addition, “we have all witnessed incidents between municipal police officers and the public in certain towns. It is therefore proper to provide training so that the municipal police, who are an auxiliary to the national police and an important part of community policing, have the tools, skills and aptitudes to interact with the public, fulfil their mission, and ensure that our citizens live in good order. Administrative tolerance seems to be coming to an end". he continues.
With these words, NASLA is making a vibrant appeal to local authorities to send their municipal police officers to the training courses.
