South-South Cooperation: New international police training center for Moroccan executives and their colleagues from the African continent, will be launched in the town of Ifrane (Morocco) next year.
The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN)of the Kingdom of Morocco has published its annual report for the year 2023, in which it highlights the modernization of security services and structures, the efforts to strengthen the security feeling and the fight against crime, as well as the mechanisms for rational management of the police officer’s professional career in order to guarantee an integrated working environment and allow her/him to optimally carry out her/his duties. It also presents the projects related to security and public order for next year.
New police structures to diversify the security offer
In order to strengthen community policing structures and promote services’ adaptation to the expansion of new urban centers, the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN) created 13 new security structures in 2023.
The creation of these 13 new security structures aims to strengthen the structures assigned to community policing and to ensure services’ adaptation to urban expansion.
This also concerns the Rabat police prefecture, with the creation of the 5th police district and the Ryad police district, as well as the creation of 24 police districts within the Marrakech police prefecture. This brings the overall number of police districts throughout the kingdom to 454, covering all urban areas under the national security services.
DGSN continued the generalization of emergency police units, operating under the supervision of the command and coordination rooms.
This year, the inauguration of the permanent mobile emergency police unit at the Kenitra police prefecture, marked a significant step forward. Made up of mobile teams of bikers and emergency vehicles, this unit responds effectively to citizens’ calls for help, ensuring rapid intervention. These vehicles are constantly checked and monitored by the relevant services at central and regional levels.
DGSN also inaugurated citizen reception areas, in partnership with the ministry in charge of Digital Transition and Administration Reform as well as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
IT system: complementary digital platforms serving citizens and police’s officers.
In 2023, DGSN further reinforced the digital infrastructure of administrative services provided to citizens and foreign nationals residing in Morocco, including identity documents, residence permits and administrative certificates.
The process of opening up to various public and private service providers was also strengthened, through the conclusion of partnerships and agreements aimed at generalizing the use of the “Trusted Third Party” platform for identity verification linked to the “Digital Identity” space, which was developed by DGSN.
This year was also marked by strengthening the participatory process of public services’ simplification as well as the continued implementation of the strategy of bringing together and generalizing CNIE services for all citizens, through the creation of 32 mobile units for the issuance and renewal of the electronic national identity card.
According to the same report, this year also observed a sustained and prompt response to citizens’ requests for electronic and administrative identification documents, along with residence permits for foreigners. A cumulative total of 4,269,781 new-generation electronic national identity cards were issued.
Promoting Security Cooperation Partnerships
The current year was marked by the continuation of the process of strengthening and intensifying international security cooperation operations with various international partners, including government agencies and organizations in charge of security affairs and law enforcement, a cooperation which focused mainly on operational coordination and technical assistance with friendly and partner countries.
This fruitful cooperation was crowned by the unanimous approval of choosing the Kingdom of Morocco to host, in 2025, the 93rd session of the General Assembly of the General Criminal Police Organization “Interpol”, which brings together the chiefs and representatives of the security services of 196 member states, in addition to organizing, on December 6-7, 2023, the 47th Conference of Arab Police and Security Chiefs.
The year was also marked by the consolidation of bilateral and multilateral security cooperation, as the General Directorate for National Security took part in high-level meetings held within the framework of Interpol and the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers and the African Union.
Bilateral meetings on issues related to strengthening international security were also held, notably with the President of the International Criminal Police Organization, the Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Director General of the French police and Belgium’s Acting Director General of Security, the Vice-President of the Saudi Arabian Security Service, the Secretary General of the Information System of the Portuguese Republic (SIRP) and the Director General of the Portuguese Intelligence Service (SIS), as well as the President of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Director General of the State Protection and Intelligence Services of the Republic of Austria.
On the numeric indicators of this cooperation, the International Cooperation Division under the General Directorate for National Security processed 6,473 files and requests for information, an increase of 12% on 2022. Of these, drug-related cases accounted for 13%, followed by the fight against illegal immigration (15%), exchange and transfer of prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentences in their countries of origin (9%), mutual exploitation of databases (6%) and information request notices (26%).
As for operational cooperation, the National Central Bureau (Interpol Rabat) monitored the execution of 119 international letters rogatory issued by foreign authorities, and disclosed 121 international arrest warrants, which led to the arrest of 92 people subject to international wanted notices issued by Moroccan judicial authorities.
The same Bureau published 3280 nationwide wanted notices following arrest warrants issued by competent authorities in foreign countries. It also issued 245 search notices issued by police services in Arab countries, while 2006 warrants to terminate international searches and 342 warrants to terminate Arab search notices were issued.
With regard to the extradition of criminals, a total of 54 individuals were subject to international arrest warrants issued by Moroccan authorities in 2023, compared with 69 people in 2022. Furthermore, a total of 48 foreign nationals were arrested in Morocco after being subject of extradition warrants to the judicial authorities of the countries that requested them.
Organizing Major Events:
For 2023, the DGSN has put in place a strategic vision to accumulate and reinforce expertise in securing major events. This orientation has supported Morocco’s hosting of a series of regional, continental and international events.
During these events, the security services were omnipresent and efficient through the activation of security and organization protocols. These protocols were decisive in the success of these events, contributing to Morocco’s reputation as a trusted partner for hosting world-class events.
On an operational level, the National Security Services provided security for 1,016 sporting events in 2023, including 910 national events in various individual and team sports, as well as 106 international sporting events, including the Club World Cup, the African Under-23 Cup, the African Women’s Cup and matches for the national football team.
All these events involved the mobilization of thousands of police officers, both men and women, from law enforcement units, as well as dozens of members of mounted police teams, police dog teams and anti-gang brigades, in addition to teams specializing in logistical and technical support.
In the same vein, the national security services provided security for major global events organized by the Kingdom in 2023, including the annual meetings of the World Bank Group (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), attended by over 14,000 people. More than 6,500 police men and women were mobilized for the event.
These services also provided security for other major events, such as the Marrakech International Film Festival and the 47th Annual Conference of Arab Security and Police Leaders, held in Tangier.
Police officers’ recruitment and training: a path to professional skills
The year 2023 was marked by the implementation of a series of programs and projects linked to the management of the professional lives of police personnel, beginning with the continued implementation of the provisions of the new police recruitment and training charter.
The year was also marked by the continued implementation of bilateral South-South and Arab cooperation programs. In fact, police training and qualification programs were set up for the benefit of several police services in sister African and Arab countries. These include the training of police officers from such countries as Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates, who have undergone advanced practical and theoretical training in public security, criminal investigation, forensics, and technical science, along with the integration of human rights principles into police functions. As a result, the number of foreign executives trained in Morocco has risen to 454 police officers of various grades and echelons.
DGSN also offered practical and theoretical experience to Libyan security executives to inform them about the training system at the Royal Police Institute and the latest developments in police curricula.
With respect to the development of infrastructure and police training academies, the DGSN has rehabilitated and developed the Ifrane police academy with a view to setting up an international police training institute for Moroccan security executives and their African counterparts. In addition, efforts are continuing to create new police training hubs, represented by police academies in Casablanca and Marrakech, as part of the implementation of the DGSN plan to guarantee specialization, improve the quality of training, and bring training schools closer to trainees. Recent years have also seen the creation of similar regional academies in Fez, Oujda, Tangier, and Laâyoune.
Capitalizing on Security Achievements and Consolidating Security Cooperation
According the DGSN’s report, the latter is determined to consolidate the achievements made in modernizing police infrastructures and services, while at the same time improving them, in order to provide an adequate response to citizens’ expectations of the public police service. It also intends to strengthen and enhance international security cooperation, by sharing its experience in the fight against terrorism and organized crime with friendly and partner countries, as well as with various international organizations interested in police work.
The creation of an international police training center in the town of Ifrane, which will serve as an advanced training institute for Moroccan executives and their colleagues from the African continent, is among the projects scheduled for implementation over the coming year, and currently in the final stages of preparation.
Set up as a regional and international training hub, the center will be able to host training cycles and workshops organized by international partners, for the benefit of African police and security executives in Morocco.
The goal assigned to this international center specialized in police training is to implement the far-sighted Royal Vision aimed at strengthening South-South cooperation relations and consolidating coordination and training mechanisms in the field of security, in order to support the presence and influence of the Kingdom of Morocco in its African and international environment.
The General Directorate of National Security also plans to generalize language teaching centers in various police training schools, and to perfect training techniques in sports security and the management of major events, in order to strengthen police capacities and human resources qualifications – as part of a short-term project – so that they are ready for the approach of the world and continental sporting events that Morocco will be hosting in 2025 and 2030.
With the aim of bringing police training institutes closer to the homes of trainees, both men and women, and in support of regionalization, two security training schools will be opened next year in Casablanca and Marrakech, to reinforce the security training scheme currently overseen by the Royal Police Institute in Kenitra and training schools in Tangier, Oujda, Fez, Bouknadel, Fouarat and Laayoune.
As part of the ongoing project to digitize the National Security’s services and connect them to central databases, the year 2024 will see the complete roll-out to all police districts of the information system for the management of criminal cases and misdemeanors. It will also see the continued digitization of Judicial Police services at national level, in addition to the deployment of mobile teams to issue electronic national identity cards at all regional commands, with the aim of bringing identity document issuance services closer to people living in remote areas.