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These courses and scholarships are mainly reserved for members of MET, NDF and NAMPOL to get additional training and qualification for anti-poaching missions.

 

The Anti-Poaching Law Enforcement (AP-LE) Officer is an AP officer who is both an AP scout as well as a law enforcement officer. Additionally to the functions of the AP Scout, the AP-LE officer specializes in the arresting of poachers, even if they are armed with firearms and potentially violent. - The AP-LE officer is either working in a combined function as an AP scout / LE officer, or he functions as a backup emergency response unit for the AP scouts. In this strategy, the AP-LE officers are called in when the scouts meet situations they cannot handle. Also combined teams of two AP Scouts together with one or two AP-LE officers are possible.

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We offer two degrees in the AP-LE courses:

3rd Class AP-LE Officer

2nd Class AP-LE Officer

1st Class AP-LE Officer 

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The AP-LE officer is equipped with a firearm and trained to use it in self-defense and as a safety precaution during detaining armed offenders. In addition to self-defense and the arrest of armed and aggressive suspects, the AP-LE officer must also be able to actively search for hidden and armed suspects, stalking and ambushing, as well as tracking fleeing offenders.

 

Working as an Anti-poaching Law Enforcement (AP-LE) Officer is only for professionals, and for tough men(women), who understands that anti-poaching is a very demanding security work in the wild, which can involves personal risks.

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A trained AP-LE officer is of enormous and increasing importance for the conservation of African wildlife. - In addition to state, communal and private wildlife sanctuaries, AP-LE officers can also find employment with international wildlife conservation organizations and security companies. It is currently the most sought after conservation job in Namibia - especially because an AP-LE officer, with his diverse abilities, can also be used to help prevent other crime outside urban areas, especially livestock theft.

Furthermore, AP-LE officer, due to their bushcraft, tracking and wildlife expertise, can additionally be used as assistant hunting guides (trackers) and field guides in the tourism industry.

 

Course participants

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Physically and mentally strong people, who know the wild and wild animals, preferably from rural areas with human wildlife conflicts (elephant, lion etc), who are seeking for a professional career in Namibian wildlife conservation, or who want to significantly improve their career opportunities in the tourism and wildlife sector.

     

Training content

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The AP-LE course is an advanced course designed to be taken after completing the AP Scout course. It prepares the participant to confront criminals, up to heavily armed and violent offenders. The course focus is therefore on the very demanding and time-consuming training goals "law enforcement". The other subjects, which are more intensively covered in the AP Scout course, are therefore only "refreshed" in the AP-LE course. The course is therefore also very suitable for professional AP officer and rangers who need training and upgrading in security and law enforcement.

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Main subject:

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Law enforcement: The training is based on the Namibian laws for the protection of wildlife on private, state or communal land. Finding and securing evidence and suspect, and the tracking and arresting of suspects is priority. Reconnaissance tactics, e.g. mobile by anti-poaching patrols and static from (changing) observation points are a professional necessity. Observation and search tactics, as well as ambush and raid tactics, are of utmost importance. We also teach the use of surveillance cameras to support the reconnaisance on the ground.

Since poachers can become violent and are sometimes well armed, the training is focusing on the legal aspects regarding the use of force and powers of arrest. Due to the risks to the life and health of the AP officers, detaining and self-defense techniques are intensively trained, even with the use of firearms. The safe and professional handling of firearms (in theory and practice) is of utmost importance. Tactical shooting in self-defense and in third party protection against attacks with deadly force is a challenge. The ability to defend the firearm against disarmament attempts is part of professional self-defense which arises from the carrying of firearms.

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Additional subjects:

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Reconnaissance: In addition to crime prevention, the reconnaissance of large wilderness areas and the early identification of illegal intruders or clues of poaching is a very important training content. Our anti-poaching training also intensively teaches tracking skills to track down offenders.

 

First Aid: First aid, in combination with self-defense, is the basis of health & safety precautions for AP staff. Due to the wilderness conditions and the danger that teammates could be injured in the doing their duties, first-aid measures to treat injuries, wounds and other serious health conditions, as well as the evacuation of injured teammates and search & rescue missions are of particular importance. That's why first aid is a priority in our courses. This includes both the first aid for injured team members and the first aid "for yourself" if an AP officer is injured and no first aid helper is nearby. 

Bushcraft: Good knowledge of the African wilderness and the wildlife to be protected, and the ability to live and survive in the bush are basic requirements for the work of the AP Scout. The scout must feel home in the bush so that he can stay on patrol for many days without stress and fatique.

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Game counts: Since the AP-LE Officer is often in the bush for days, he can also effectively contribute to game counts. This is also directly beneficial to his AP task, as it allows to detect drops in wildlife populations, or the absence of certain distinctive individuals (for example, individual elephants or rhinos) immediately.

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This long list shows how demanding the AP-LE officer training is. Those who want to take on this mental and physical challenge and pass the course, can earn a valuable qualification, which can be the beginning of a great professional career.

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