BEIRUT: A group of 132 Internal Security Forces officers graduated Thursday from a joint U.S. and ISF Community Policing training program, according to a U.S. Embassy press release.

The eight-week Community Policing program is a training course taught by U.S. and Lebanese police instructors with the assistance of legal professionals. The program provides ISF officers with skills in police techniques, law enforcement and community relations, and instructs them as to how to implement these skills effectively in real-life situations.

The goal behind the Community Policing model is to build a relationship of trust between law enforcement and the Lebanese people and institutions.

According to the press release, $132 million multi-year law enforcement assistance program the U.S. provides to Lebanon is designed to support reform in the Lebanese law enforcement sector by strengthening the ISF, which in turn will strengthen “Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence and stability.”

Since 2008, the U.S. team of instructors has trained over 8,500 members of Lebanon’s ISF.