OSCE Mission supports Kosovo Academy for Public Safety enhance internal quality assurance resources

The OSCE Mission supported a delegation of six senior officials of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) and its public safety agencies to conduct a visit to North Carolina Justice Academy (NCJA) in the United States (US) from 27 May to 1 June 2024.

The visit was part of Mission’s continued efforts to support KAPS in enhancing its joint quality assurance commission, which will ensure quality of KAPS’ training programmes and address recommendations stemming from the OSCE Mission’s 2023 Evaluation Report on KAPS. Building on the insight and experience gained during this visit, KAPS will soon commence drafting the Standard Operating Procedures for creating the Joint Quality Assurance Commission.

At the NCJA, the delegation learned about most up-to-date modalities to address recommendations given by the Kosovo Qualification Authority and the US International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), which accredited both the NCJA and KAPS. The IADLEST accredited KAPS and the professional training programmes of its public safety agencies in 2018 and 2021 and the next accreditation process is expected to start in August 2024.

"Learning about best practices and highest international standards in relation to quality assurance in public safety training, with special emphasis on basic training for law enforcement was very helpful to us, said Avni Istrefi, Head of External Relations Division at KAPS.

“This experience will particularly assist KAPS in the current process of international re-accreditation by IADLEST, with the interview and inspection activities set to commence in August 2024,” he added, highlighting the historical bond with the OSCE Mission, who has helped KAPS build a bridge with a new partner in the NCJA.

During the visit, the NCJA management also organized visits to the Attorney General's Office, the Conference of District Attorneys, and the State Bureau of Investigation for the delegation. To further assist KAPS, the NCJA shared with the delegation several law enforcement training curricula, including the instructor training manual with modules, along with policies and procedures for curriculum instructional system design for internal use.

This initiative follows the NCJA’s visit to KAPS in 2023, which helped to strengthen the collaboration between the two academies and familiarize KAPS with the recognized and tested quality assurance mechanisms, as well as curriculum and instructors’ development as main standards set by IADLEST and used by academies in the US.