Within the frames of the official visit to the United States, Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Mgebrishvili visited Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC) and held meeting with the director of the facility- Chris Wigginton. Director made a presentation for the members of Georgian delegation covering topics like center structure, specifics and training programs developed for the public safety.
“Mentioned center is a training base, where representatives of the law enforcing agencies, police officers and 911 emergency number operators undergo training for improving qualification. Center was founded in 1980 and unites four educational facilities: police academy, firefighters academy, training and educational program units”-stated Chris Wigginton. He also added that public safety training center is located on a vast, 400 hectares territory.
Existing infrastructure and training programs provides theory and practical training aimed for high-quality professional personnel. At the end of the meeting Giorgi Mgebrishvili toured around the public safety center and participated in the practical lessons.
“We have close and fruitful cooperation with the law enforcement agencies of the state Georgia. Public safety center will help us train our officers. In honor of our country there’s a Georgian police corner at the administrative building of the training center. This is an expression of great support for which I would like to thank Mr. Wigginton and his team. Strong foundation for development of the Ministry is highly qualified staff. Therefore, my goal is to reform the police academy into a regional center, meeting all existing international standards,”-stated Minister Mgebrishvili.
Within the frames of the INL-launched program “From Georgia to Georgia” tight cooperation has been developed between Georgian Police Academy and Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Based on the joint program GPSTC will provide academy with curriculum, study methods and instructor exchange programs. Study visit to Henry and Cobb counties helped the Ministry in developing 112 services which is the first analog of the US 911 emergency service in the post-soviet countries. Getting familiarized with the professional training program and management systems existing in the law enforcing field, has contributed to rebranding patrol police and development of the police Academy.
