Spotted: The New Biking Police Force on the Corniche

It’s been about two weeks since the ISF announced it was revamping its image with the launch of the Policing Pilot Project. It’s an effort by the police force to engage with the local community, and includes sending officers out to the Corniche on bikes.

صار عنا شرطة للكورنيش ………….#بيروت #لبنان
NEW CORNICHE POLICE IN BEIRUT
pic v Mohamad Machnouk #lebanon pic.twitter.com/neJdxswpWS

— Rania El Khatib (@rania_elkhatib) January 27, 2014

According to the Daily Star newspaper, the project is funded by the American and British embassies. The report says the police unit has been renamed the Ras Beirut Section instead of Hobeish because of the public’s distrust of the former institution.

The Ras Beirut project is considered a test model and will be implemented on a national scale if it succeeds. And those ISF members you’re seeing biking around town now have been trained by the US embassy in community policing skills for the past 18 months.