WP LE Officer Courses | Anti-Poaching AP4D

wildlife protection
Law Enforcement
officer
training courses

"Detering & pursuing wildlife criminals"

Becoming a WP Law Enforcement Officer

The WP Officer course develop the students into experts in hot pursuit tracking, overpowering and arresting even violent and armed poachers. WP Officers work hand-in-hand with the WP Scouts.

It must be noted, that only the combination of WP Scout and WP Officer results in the complete AP4D qualification: The WP Ranger.

We therefore advise that all who want to work in wildlife protection/anti poaching go through both lines of training gradually.

Nevertheless, only the best students from the WP scout courses are admitted to the WP officer courses.

Cooperation with state law enforcement officers

Basic idea of the WP Officer is to support the Namibian police or MET whenever they cannot carry out the relevant anti poaching missions themselves, but immediate action is required. Nevertheless, the WP Enforcer courses are of course particularly open to members of the Namibian police force, NDF and MET in order to expand their qualifications, - as it was already done in the past.

TRAINING SUBJECTS

The Namibian law

Generally, job and training of the WP Officer are based on the Namibian laws under which all security operations in Namibia fall, on private, or communal land. Knowledge of all the necessary legal paragraphs forms the basis of their work and is a focus in all AP4D's training courses.

As in other security problems, the Namibian police as the responsible governmental body cannot be available always and everywhere.

Bringing perpetrators into custody

The main focus of the training of the WP Officer is on techniques and tactics in order to overpower even violent and armed suspects and perpetrators and to hand them over to the Namibian police force.

In order to minimize the use of firearms in arrests and in self-defense, the WP Officers are particularly well trained in "less than lethal" close combat techniques, unarmed or with impact weapons.

Nevertheless, for deterrence purposes and for their own protection in worst cases, they are well trained on various firearms for close quarters as well as for long range scenarios.

Their training enables them to use offensive arresting tactics that can catch suspects in the act or track them down using extremely fast tracking - to ultimately arrest them.

In addition, the WP Officers are trained in de-escalations tactics and in undercover investigations.

Given their special equipment, selection and training the WP Officer also serve as a general deterrent to people who are planning wildlife and nature crime.

Health & Safety (Survival) Training

Wilderness Survival Training

Wilderness survival skills are a basic requirement to complete the demanding tasks of a WP officer. The WP officers must feel home in the wilderness so that they can stay on duty for many days without stress and fatique.

Animal danger Survival Training

As part of their work, the WP officers repeatedly come into contact with potentially dangerous animals. In their health and safety training, they must therefore learn how to control these dangers in such a way that risks can be minimized.

Crime+Terror Survival Training

The job of WP officers can be dangerous, as they work in areas where potentially violent criminals are on the move and it is part of their job to observe these suspects and arrest them when there is clear evidence of a criminal offense.

In addition, in the event of an attack on the WP scouts, the WP officers must act as an armed emergency response unit to save the lives of their colleagues. Therefore, their health & safety training consists also of:

SERE,

is a combination of wilderness survival, evasion, resistance and escape tactics. The WP officers should avoid any dangerous confrontation which they cannot handle with a high probability of success.

SELF DEFENSE:

WP officers may come into contact with armed and violent suspects or offenders while performing their duties. WP Scouts must therefore be intensively trained in unarmed self-defense and must also be able to use contact weapons and even firearms in private defense to protect their life and health.

First Aid / Search & Rescue Training

There are many sources of danger that can lead to injuries in the work of the WP Scouts. Therefore, they must be able to reliably provide first aid to both themselves and their team colleagues. In addition, they must be able to search for and locate injured or missing colleagues (or others, e.g. tourists) and evacuate them to safety.

Course structure

The WP Officer courses by AP4D are divided into 3 levels: Basic, Advanced and Master courses, each lasting 15 days. - In each level the requirements and training content are expanded and deepened. Each course is certified with a certificate, whereby a minimum score of 60% must be achieved to pass.

By completing the Basic WP Officer course, graduates can start working as a WP Officer, but they should definitely complete their training up to the master level in order to be able to call themselves a fully trained WP Officer.

Qualification

By completing the Basic WP LE Officer course, graduates can start working in wildlife protection, but they should definitely complete their training up to the master level in order to be able to call themselves a fully trained WP LE Officer.

As a Master WP LE Officer certified by AP4D, the graduate has a qualification level that cannot be achieved through any other training institution in Namibia.

Additional duties

In addition, such an excellently trained WP Officer also has the qualifications to work as a safari guide in tourism or in different fields of security if his main duties allows it.