Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS)

Naif Arab University for Security Sciences is an Arab organization with legal personality and diplomatic status, serving as the academic body for the Arab Interior Ministers Council. It focuses on graduate studies, scientific research, and training in security fields and relevant areas. The university is headquartered in the capital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The idea of establishing the university was first discussed following the inaugural Conference of Arab Police and Security Leaders in al-Ain City, United Arab Emirates, in 1972. At the second conference, held in Baghdad City, Iraq, in 1978, a decision was made to establish the Arab Institute for Training, which would focus on research and studies related to societal defense against crime. In 1979, the institute's name was changed to the Arab Center for Social Defense Studies. At the third conference, which took place in Taif, the Kingdom, in 1980, the name of the center was changed to the Arab Center for Security Studies and Training.

In 1985, the Kingdom hosted the university's headquarters in the capital, Riyadh. Since its inauguration, the Kingdom has provided ongoing support, both materially and morally, up to the era of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and his Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz. The university has also received continuous follow-up from the Minister of Interior, Chairman of the University’s Supreme Council, and Honorary President of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Saud Bin Naif, along with the Arab Ministers of Interior.

At the fourteenth session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, which was held in Tunisia in 1997, the name of the Arab Center for Security Studies and Training was modified to Naif Arab Academy for Security Sciences. This was a recognition by the Council of Arab Interior Ministers of Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's contributions and efforts in developing the process of joint Arab security work.

As a result of the development witnessed by the academy, its name was changed to Naif Arab University for Security Sciences during the twenty-first session held in Tunisia in 2004. The university's activities began in 1978. In 2019, the university launched its 2019-2023 strategic plan.

The objectives of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences are crime and delinquency prevention, supporting and achieving criminal justice, combating drugs, protecting against organized and transnational crime, combating economic and cyber crimes, enhancing the skills of security sector personnel, and developing security education competencies. Security decisions are based on applied studies of the most prominent security threats.

The university offers the following academic programs:

College of Criminal Justice: It offers diploma and graduate programs, with departments including the Department of Criminal Law, Department of Forensic Sciences, Department of Police Sciences, and Department of Security Management.

College of Criminology: It includes two departments, the Department of Crime Prevention and the Department of Criminology, in addition to a Master's program in Criminology.

Naif Arab University also includes a Language Center, a Center for Cyber Crimes and Digital Evidence, and a Center of Road Traffic Safety.