Andrew Hughes

Police Adviser to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations
United Nations
Focus Area(s)
Accountable Policing
Critical Tasks
Community policing
Training
Interviewers
Daniel Scher and Jennifer Widner
Town/City
New York, NY
Country
United States
Date of Interview
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Abstract
Andrew Hughes discusses his experiences working on police reform, including as former commissioner of police in Fiji. United Nations policing, says Hughes, has moved considerably into “reform, restructure, [and] rebuilding.” Challenges to effectively building U.N. policing capacity include recruiting quality professionals and gaining member state support for the continued growth of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Going forward, he says, it will be important for U.N. police to have more professional posts and a better-defined career structure. Further, as officers come from different contexts, with diverse policing styles and methodologies, Hughes notes that it is important to build a common understanding of what it means to be a police officer in the U.N. context, as well as train officers in a democratic policing model. Hughes concludes by discussing his experiences in Fiji, where he undertook efforts to reform and modernize the police, including by improving information systems, increasing the representation of women in the force, and implementing new community policing measures.  

Full Interview

64 MB
Andrew Hughes - Full Interview
Profile

At the time of this interview, Andrew Hughes had over 30 years of experience as a police officer, including as a deputy chief police officer in the Australian Capital Territory Police and assistant commissioner in charge of operations for the Australian Federal Police. He served as a liaison officer at the Australian High Commission in London, working with U.K. and European counterparts primarily on issues related to organized crime. Hughes also spent over three years as the commissioner of police in Fiji, prior to the December 2006 coup. On August 9, 2007, United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon announced Hughes' appointment as police adviser to the U.N., a role that placed him at the head of U.N. Police peacekeeping operations. 

Keywords
community policing
Fiji
information management systems
local police training
pre-deployment training
recruitment
training curriculum
UN Policies
Not specified