KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A total of nine Afghan Border Police and guard force members completed the basic criminal investigation course, March 29, at the Kandahar Training Center in southern Afghanistan.
The three and a half week course educated students on post-incident forensics gathering. Emmit Byrd, a DynCorp contractor based out of the United States, was the lead instructor on the course.
“The students in this class were outstanding,” said Byrd, a Mobile, Ala. native on his first assignment to Afghanistan. “During crime scene practical exercises, they knew exactly what to do, but most importantly, what not to do to compromise the integrity of a crime scene.”
One of the course students, non-commissioned officer Abdul Qahir, is a 10 year ABP veteran who had a good experience with this specialized course.
“This was definitely the best course I’ve attended so far because of the instructors and the content,” said 35-year-old Qahir.
“Learning about collecting DNA samples was the most interesting part of the course for me,” Qahir continued. “I had an idea about forensics gathering, but now I know a lot more. I’ve taken plenty of notes that I will use back at the work force.”
Basic first aid, improvised explosive device awareness, intelligence gathering and witness, victim, subject interviews and statements were some of the topics taught during the course.
All nine graduates received special certificates of completion from the ceremony’s special guest attendee, Haji Mohammad Naseem, deputy mayor of Kandahar.