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Easier communication
On Thursday July 13, the Guardia Civil concluded the first training course in the instruction of explosives, weapons and ammunition detection canine teams for members of the Ukrainian Border and Customs Guard.
During the extensive months long training, officers of the Guardia Civil’s Cynological Service have taught eight Ukrainian border and customs guards how to work with their police dogs to detect explosives, weapons and ammunition.
The farewell ceremony was held at the Guardia Civil’s dog training centre in El Pardo, Madrid, where the students received their certificates which accredited them as canine team instructors.
Initially, the training was scheduled to take place in Ukraine, but due to the current conflict there, it was reorganised to take place in Spain.
COMMUNICATION with authorities in a foreign land can be very difficult but imagine if it’s your country but you still can’t explain a problem!
Alert to this, the director general of the Guardia Civil, Leonardo Marcos, and the executive vicepresident of the ONCE Foundation (which strives for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities) Alberto Durán recently presented a guide with pictograms to improve communication between patrols and people with cognitive difficulties.
This simple guide which comprises of a number of drawings is intended to make it easier for people who suffer difficulties in communication to be able to explain any problems that they may have with officers from the Guardia Civil.
It is intended that the guide will be available this summer and officers will also have access to it on any electronic device they may carry such as tablets or computers.
To make the situation easier for some foreign visitors or residents, the 46page booklet, will also be translated into English and French to make communication easier for those who speak no Spanish.
The Directorate General of Police has been put in charge of organising a system that would allow access to knowledge of a foreign language that would also enable career progression and internal promotion.
Promoting the knowledge of languages is a strategic priority of the Directorate General of Police and for this reason, the National Police Language Centre has been set up.
It will have its headquarters in Madrid, attached to the General Secretariat of the Training and Development Division, which will be fully qualified for training, evaluation and certification in language teaching. The report went on to say for the correct exercise of police work, knowledge of foreign languages was an essential tool.
