The greetings look like the ones among good friends. Handshakes, smiles and hugs.

The venue is the Bethlehem Family and Juvenile Protection Department (FJPD), which is part of the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP), where EUPOL COPPS FJPDs coaching sessions take place.

Here, together with key officers in this team, the head of branch, Mohammad Ghannam, met EUPOL COPPS’ Family and Juvenile Protection expert Anna Sanden and Marie Hummer, Senior Police Adviser on general policing, both from Sweden, prior to the hands-on working session taking place on 21 January.

The pre-training discussions focused on the ongoing cooperation between different PCP departments among each other and the Mission, including on the use of Tablets.

 Together with the 30-year-old FJPD Captain, and her colleagues, Captain and Investigation and Management officer, the EUPOL COPPS advisors agree on a coaching session for the day focusing on methods to build a solid evidence-based case, including on sexual related crimes.

Aware of the different cultural context and applicable laws, the Swedish police officers shared about best practices and cases they gained experience on during their career at home. It was mutually agreed that one can discuss a model and see what applicable in Palestine.

The Palestinian officers shared about cases they worked on, including sensitive cases concerning the age of consent in relation to sex and the involvement of the families and the Sharia courts to solve them, and the related connection with the rule of law in Palestine.

The West Bank SOPs on juvenile protection, drafted with the involvement of legal advisors, international actors, such as UN women, courts and also Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the role EUPOL COPPS can play on this given the hands-on subject matter expertise, was also discussed during the session.