August 30, 2016
Some 68 officers of the Family Support Unit (FSU) have bidden farewell to their boss, Superintendent Mira Koroma, as she departs for a leadership training course in the United States of America.
The FSU is a specialised unit of the Sierra Leone Police that investigates cases of domestic and sexual violence nationwide.
The head of the unit is the first Sierra Leonean to attend the year-long “Next Generation Leaders Program” at the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University.
Speaking during a farewell meeting with members of the unit, the young female superintendent denied rumours that she was leaving the police force emphasising thus: “Policing is my career and I am definitely returning to it after my studies in September 2017, for a new assignment”.
She thanked her supervisor, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Elizabeth Turay for her “unflinching support given to me throughout my stewardship at the FSU”.
AIG Turay remarked that the force would miss Mira and her hard work in the next one year, describing her as a “role model in the service”.
The departing FSU boss was awarded the training scholarship after a rigorous selection process based on her qualification and experience, as well as an essay-writing contest and a Skype interview with a panel in the United States.
She is among a select group of 10 participants from around the world who will attend an orientation in Washington DC in early September. She will later be assigned to the Denver Mayor’s office to learn how a police organisation is run, as well as to the Denver Police Station for a firsthand experience on policing in the United States.
Mira joined the Sierra Leone Police in 2006. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, and a Master’s degree in Peace and Development Studies from Njala University. She has also served as a United Nations peacekeeper in Haiti.
Standing Tall: Supt. Mira Koroma