Mustafa Resat Tekinbas speaks about his role with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Police. As a deputy police commissioner, he discusses his experience both in working with U.N. international policing and with the administrative intricacies of the Kosovo mission. He begins by detailing the structure of the UNMIK police and explaining the progress the mission had made in the eight years since the inception of the force. Tekinbas talks about the U.N. policies behind international police assignments, the limitations of pre-deployment training and aspects of the immersive training that takes place in the field. He details efforts to deploy international police in certain areas to maximize their effectiveness. He concludes with an example of the grueling work schedule of an international policeman and offers ideas for improvement.
Case Study: Building the Police Service in a Security Vacuum: International Efforts in Kosovo, 1999-2011
Full Interview
At the time of this interview, Mustafa Resat Tekinbas was serving as deputy police commissioner for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). He began his career in Istanbul, Turkey, and worked as a police officer for more than two decades. Tekinbas received additional police training in the United States, and his experience spanned intelligence, information technology and riot control. He began working with UNMIK in 2003.