Rabat – In its 2023 recruitment and training program, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) focused on professional skills, new training programs, enhance police training schools and consolidate the human rights dimension in training programs.
DGSN services took steps to boost employee motivation through an integrated approach that puts officers at the forefront of police management, DGSN points out in a press release on its results for 2023, adding that this approach also consists in setting up multiple mechanisms for motivation and professional support.
The current number of DGSN Security officers is 79,830, with a median age of around 40, the same source notes, underlining that 2023 was marked by the implementation of a series of programs and projects linked to the management of the professional lives of police personnel, beginning with the continued implementation of the provisions of the new police recruitment and training charter.
This year, six (06) open entrance exams were organized t
o hire 6,637 civil servants, including 30 senior commissioners, 130 police commissioners, 250 police officers, 50 peace officers, 2,050 police inspectors, and 4,127 peacekeepers.
Candidates applied for these vacancies via the electronic portal available to the public on the Internet. These vacancies were widely advertised on television, in modern communication media, and in several national newspapers to ensure equal opportunities for all candidates and make the announcement available to all male and female applicants.
In parallel with the new features introduced into the recruitment system and competitive examinations, to enhance the quality of human resources, new training programs were adopted. These combine theoretical courses with practical exercises within the various police teams and units.
In addition, police trainees took part in seminars and professional meetings initiated within the framework of continuing education and institutional partnerships. Similarly, the number of hours of training in th
e various forensic specialties has increased.
Training programs and materials have also been updated and modernized, with a focus on distance learning, to enable instant transfer and broadcast of training sessions to all Royal Police Academies.
Over the course of the year, 12,846 police officers benefited from professional training programs, with 52% of them attending basic training sessions for new recruits to DGSN, while 21% benefited from continuous training sessions, and around 12% attended specialized training courses in various police fields, including the fight against illegal immigration, terrorism, mine clearance, forensics, and the management of new IT applications. Other training courses included K-9 dog training and handling, equestrian police, vehicle driving, and police intervention mechanisms.
Some 216 training sessions were carried out both inside and outside Morocco, within the framework of international security cooperation relations, for the benefit of 2,198 police officers.
The year wa
s also marked by the continued implementation of bilateral South-South and Arab cooperation programs. In fact, police training and qualification programs were set up for the benefit of several police services in sister African and Arab countries. These include the training of police officers from such countries as Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates, who have undergone advanced practical and theoretical training in public security, criminal investigation, forensics, and technical science, along with the integration of human rights principles into police functions. As a result, the number of foreign executives trained in Morocco has risen to 454 police officers of various grades and echelons.
DGSN also offered practical and theoretical experience to Libyan security executives to inform them about the training system at the Royal Police Institute and the latest developments in police curricula.
With respect to the development of infrastructure and police training academies, the DGSN has rehabilitated and de
veloped the Ifrane police academy with a view to setting up an international police training institute for Moroccan security executives and their African counterparts. In addition, efforts are continuing to create new police training hubs, represented by police academies in Casablanca and Marrakech, as part of the implementation of the DGSN plan to guarantee specialization, improve the quality of training, and bring training schools closer to trainees. Recent years have also seen the creation of similar regional academies in Fez, Oujda, Tangier, and La Syoune.
As part of a strategic vision aimed at strengthening the police function and supporting the human rights dimension in the police training program, the DGSN and the Mohammed V University in Rabat signed a framework partnership and institutional cooperation agreement in June 2023 in the area of training and consolidating respect for human rights in the security profession, with a view to strengthening cooperation in the fields of training, including basi
c, continuous, and specialized training, as well as consolidating our country’s accumulated experience in the field of implementing and protecting human rights principles. Likewise, the aim is to work together to promote a culture of human rights in police training programs by setting them up as a reference and guide for the missions of DGSN security officials in charge of implementing the law.
Furthermore, in line with the partnership established in 2022 between the DGSN and the National Council for Human Rights, 2023 was marked by several training sessions on adopting human rights standards within the police work system.
These sessions benefited a number of police officers, who attended both theoretical courses and practical exercises in the field of civil liberties and human rights standards when interacting with people in police custody.
Another highlight of the year was the creation of favorable conditions for the national mechanism for the prevention of torture to carry out inspection visits and exer
cise its functions in police custody facilities on DGSN premises.
As part of its support for specialized and technical training, the DGSN has organized meetings and seminars in partnership with Morocco’s Judicial Agency and the Supreme Council of the Judiciary. The aim was to enhance the skills of security executives in managing the judicial aspects of administrative disputes and implementing the principles and mechanisms of legal and judicial protection for police officers who have been victims of physical or verbal aggression or contempt while performing their duties.
In 2023, DGSN took steps to boost employee motivation through an integrated approach that puts officers at the forefront of police management. This approach consists, on the one hand, in setting up multiple mechanisms for motivation and professional support, and on the other, in creating a healthy working environment offering every guarantee of functional safety.
To this end, this year saw the announcement of annual promotions for the 2022
budget year, as well as an exceptional promotion to commemorate the 24th anniversary of Throne Day.
A total of 19,818 police officers in various ranks benefited from these promotions, representing an exceptional rate of nearly 80% of the total number of civil servants on the lists of candidates eligible for promotion, in accordance with the provisions of the DGSN civil servant status.
DGSN has maintained the “annual regularity” of the promotion process, as the Promotion Commission has completed its assessment of the files of 11,480 civil servants on the promotion lists for 2022. The DGSN has also paid particular attention to civil servants in lower and intermediate grades to benefit from functional promotion, one of the most important incentives.
The DGSN also handed out 14 letters of congratulations and recognition to civil servants who had demonstrated a high level of professionalism in the performance of their duties. Similarly, it continued to implement the plan to bring civil servants closer to their
family and community environment by granting 2,782 requests for transfer, 1,264 of which were processed under the emergency procedure for social, health, or family reunification reasons.
Hearings were also granted to 1,082 civil servants who submitted requests for hearings under the “Requests for Hearings” scheme, which is guaranteed to all civil servants.
Similarly, 2,193 civil servants benefited from the right to defense and support as part of the consecration of the principle of “protection of the state” guaranteed by law to security personnel following physical and verbal assaults to which they were exposed during the performance of their duties.
In keeping with this principle, DGSN organized a training session this year, in partnership with the Kingdom’s Judicial Agency, to shed light on the conditions and mechanisms required to benefit from the right to assistance and to review best practices for following up on these cases before the relevant jurisdictions to guarantee the protection of civil servan
ts and enshrine the principle of the primacy of the rule of law.
To ensure professional fairness, the DGSN worked in 2023 on strengthening the mechanisms for handling administrative grievances through the Central Grievances Commission created in December 2018 and tasked with examining grievances and requests for professional clemency, making recommendations, and making observations aimed at reconciling the interests of the civil servant and the public service.
Over the course of the year, this commission received a total of 363 administrative grievances and issued 157 recommendations for the revision or cancellation of 12% of disciplinary measures taken and the approval of 86% of sanctions and measures decided upon.
Regarding moralization, the correctional mechanism aimed at sanctioning professional misconduct of police officers, whether during the exercise of their duties or those linked to their quality in the event of infringement of the obligation of discretion, integrity and probity, processed 8,283 a
dministrative files in 2023 and issued 2,151 disciplinary sanctions, including 237 suspension decisions, and 5,502 disciplinary measures through written warnings and requalifications.
In addition, the inspection commissions under DGSN carried out 520 administrative investigations in 2023, including 147 opened on the basis of denunciations which were handled with the required rigor. These investigations concerned 1,651 civil servants.
These investigations were marked by in-depth investigations into all the alleged dysfunctions attributed to DGSN services and agents, as well as by surveillance and audit operations of various aspects of police work.
Thus, a total of 14 investigations concluded to the existence of elements constituting acts contrary to criminal law, and were submitted to the Judicial Police for notification to the competent public prosecutor’s offices and the opening of judicial inquiries.
In terms of social support for serving and retired police officers and their dependents, the Mohammed VI
Foundation for the Social Works of National Security Civil Servants provided direct assistance in the form of financial and in-kind subsidies to its members, benefiting 1,084 members who had suffered serious injury in the course of their duties, or who were suffering from serious illnesses, and whose cases were processed under the emergency procedure.
Direct financial support and vouchers were also granted to 4,054 widows and 289 retired police officers from the DGSN family, who receive a limited monthly pension.
On the spiritual front, 2023 was marked by increasing the number of pilgrimage beneficiaries. Pilgrimage costs were covered on behalf of 295 beneficiaries from DGSN and territorial surveillance corps, including 168 people who benefited from full coverage of pilgrimage costs, while 127 others received 20,000 dirhams as a partial financial subsidy, having been selected by lottery to perform the Hajj.
In addition, children and orphans of police officers benefited from a number of educational and recr
eational initiatives, notably following the return of summer vacation camps to their normal rhythm following the lifting of the health emergency. A total of 3,181 children benefited from these initiatives. These camps were organized over four different periods in seaside resorts and summer centers in Agadir, Bouznika, Ifrane and Tetouan.
The Foundation also continued to offer stable, long-term financial support to the children and orphans of police officers who excel at school. A scholarship of 10,000 dirhams, over a five-year period of academic study, was awarded to 36 students, with a view to expanding the base of beneficiaries of this program on a periodic basis, to reach 60 beneficiaries per year in the near future. In addition, financial rewards were handed to 116 students who obtained high averages in the baccalaureate exams.
In support of social initiatives, the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Social Works of National Security Civil Servants has signed partnership and cooperation agreements with insur
ance companies, clinics and national businesses, aimed at giving police officers and their dependents access to health and commercial services at preferential rates, including a partnership agreement covering access at reduced cost to services offered by two Internet and telephone service providers. These partnerships are in addition to those signed in recent years, enabling the DGSN family to benefit from commercial, health and insurance services at preferential rates.
With regard to other basic health services, the DGSN Health Services Inspectorate has been working over the past year on the development of the “Health 2026” action plan, which includes a new vision for the management of health services under the authority of the security forces, involving support for proactive and preventive initiatives, the activation of health control operations, and the diversification of basic and specialized medical provision for the benefit of police personnel.
In 2023, 184,378 medical consultations and interventions
were carried out for police officers, including 65,127 general medical consultations, 44,279 occupational medicine consultations, 7,716 specialist consultations, 20,779 dental treatments and 7,196 psychological support consultations.
In addition, DGSN health services inspectorate carried out 1,261 medical control visits to police custody facilities and detention centers for minors under judicial investigation, to check on the hygiene conditions of these individuals subjected to measures restricting their freedom during the preliminary phase of the trial.
Furthermore, 2023 was marked by the continuation of the approach aimed at strengthening and diversifying healthcare provision at regional level, through the equipping and opening of the DGSN health center in Casablanca, a decentralized health structure designed to provide medical services and consultations, as well as first aid to police officers and members of their families.
This facility reinforces the range of integrated medical services offered by the
other central and regional health centers, including the DGSN radiology and medical analysis center in Rabat, inaugurated in 2019 by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him.
During the course of this year, the Center, which has undergone major work to extend its services and facilities, now comprises three integrated buildings dedicated to radiology and medical analysis, as well as a day-care center providing medical consultations in a variety of specialties.
The center is equipped with a microbiology laboratory (detection of bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses), a biochemistry and immunology laboratory, a haematology laboratory, and a COVID-19 diagnostic unit.
In addition, this facility has radiology units equipped with advanced digital technology, including scanners, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and mammography for breast cancer screening…etc.
The center also has a multi-purpose care unit offering a range of free specialist medical consultations, covering endoctrinology, cardiol
ogy, pneumology, pediatrics and gynecology. It also offers medical consultations in surgical specialties such as orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery, as well as general surgery, dentistry, psychiatric follow-up, physiotherapy, transport and medical assistance.
In support of health initiatives, the General Directorate of National Security allocated exceptional financial assistance this year to 269 civil servants, to the tune of 20,000 dirhams for each beneficiary, to help those suffering or whose relatives are suffering from serious illnesses to meet the treatment costs. This assistance has been multiplied several times in recent years, benefiting 85 people in 2021 and 126 beneficiaries in 2022, to reach 269 beneficiaries this year.
Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse