Saudi religious police to get training in behavioural skills

Riyadh: As part of a damage control exercise, the religious police authority will provide intensive training to its field staff on behavioural skills.

The General Presidency of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, also known as the religious police, announced plans to set up a specialised centre to provide training for its members who work in the field.

Dr Ebrahim Al Howaimel, undersecretary at the presidency, announced this.

Training course

Inaugurating a training course for the newly appointed members of the Commission yesterday, he urged the religious policemen to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations set by the Commission as well as the directives of senior officials in handling cases.

A number of citizens and expats told Gulf News the Commission's new initiative is to improve its bad reputation among a large section of the society in the kingdom as well as outside the country.

Naif Al Shahri, a Saudi political analyst, said the aggressive media campaign cornering religious policemen for their alleged inhuman treatment and torture has prompted the presidency to take measures to avoid repeating such mistakes in future.

There was an unprecedented local media uproar and public resentment over the abuse of power by a section of the religious policemen recently in the kingdom.

In the kingdom, the commission members act virtually as a police force of several thousand men charged with enforcing dress codes, sex segregation and the observance of prayers.