Marine and Border Security

Marine and Border Security

ICITAP provides technical assistance and training to help law enforcement professionals in foreign countries secure their borders and protect their marine interests from illegal immigration, smuggling of contraband, and other criminal activities. This includes border enforcement, customs and immigration, and airport and coastal security. ICITAP's work in marine and border security reduces transnational crime that affects public safety and security around the world and within the United States.

Programs include:

• Installing border control systems
• Developing marine police agencies and personnel
• Developing port-of-entry systems, including airport and other security measures

Programs

Here are a few examples of ICITAP's work in helping police around the globe secure their marine and land borders:

Boat Donations and Marine Police Training in Asia

In Indonesia, ICITAP facilitated the donation of 15 high-speed patrol boats to the marine police. The boats provided the marine police with the greater coastal and inter-island interdiction capability, which is vital to counterterrorism and antipiracy operations. The boats have significantly bolstered law enforcement efforts in the North Sulawesi Sea and the Malacca Straits, a narrow 600-mile waterway used annually by 50,000 ships to carry a third of the world's trade and half of its oil supplies. ICITAP's work in Indonesia focuses on developing collaborations between the marine police and other Indonesian and regional law enforcement agencies to improve intelligence-gathering and the interdiction of illegal logging and fishing, smuggling, and trafficking in persons.

A similar marine police initiative is underway in the Philippines. The project will help increase the interdiction capabilities of the national police, while also building a regional model—through linkage with the Indonesian police—to fight crime, including terrorism.

Automated Identification Systems in Albania

ICITAP helped border police in Albania develop an information management system—installed at 18 sites throughout the country—that has resulted in the apprehension of wanted persons. ICITAP has also assisted Albania in developing its international port security in many ways, including through the donation of four automated ship identification systems. Albania was rated "acceptable" under the International Standards and Port Security code, which was adopted after 9/11 to help prevent shipping from becoming a vehicle for—or target of—terrorism.

Explosives Training for Border Security Forces in Pakistan

In Pakistan, ICITAP teamed up with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the State Department to develop a training program on improvised explosive devices. The training includes explosives detection and recognition, render-safe procedures for Pakistani border security forces, and critical incident management classes for supervisors.