community policing

Gail Teixeira

Ref Batch
S
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
10
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Gail Teixeira
Interviewee's Position
Former Minister of Home Affairs
Interviewee's Organization
Guyana
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Guyanese
Town/City
Georgetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
Yes
Abstract

Gail Teixeira shares her experiences with policing reform and domestic security issues during her tenure as minister of home affairs in Guyana, first as acting minister in 2004 and then officially in the post from 2005 to 2006.  She describes in detail the process of establishing a functioning civilian police force, including the utilization of community-based rural constables and volunteer neighborhood police as well as the more macro-level issues of donor relations and compliance with international norms as identified by the United Nations.  She provides a compelling account of the challenge of adhering to the cultural and historical expectations of the people at the same time that outside financial assistance and training is going on. The decentralization of the reforms and the policing system are of particular interest, especially in the face of drug-related gang activities.

Profile

At the time of this interview, Gail Teixeira was serving as a member of Guyana's Parliament as well as an adviser to President Bharrat Jagdeo on governance. Her comments center on her experiences as minister of home affairs from 2004 to 2006.

Full Audio File Size
32.7MB
Full Audio Title
Gail Teixeira- Full Interview

Julie Fleming

Ref Batch
L
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
3
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Julie Fleming
Interviewee's Position
Chief, Community Policing Project
Interviewee's Organization
Kosovo
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
American
Place (Building/Street)
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe offices
Town/City
Pristina, Republic of Kosovo
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Julie Fleming describes how the International Crime Investigative Training Assistance Program started a pilot community policing program with five U.S. officers working in four municipalities in Kosovo. She gives details about the process of recruitment of community committees and the 12-week training program in Vushtrri; the project brought together young people from different ethnic backgrounds. At the time of the interview, it was present in 20 municipalities. A study showed long-term improvement in terms of freedom of movement, inter-ethnic relations, police-community relations, and other aspects. In her opinion, the main success of the project was that it was community-driven, although it suffered setbacks due to the political events of 2008. She also discusses her views on the successes and failures of community policing in Kosovo.

Case Study: Building the Police Service in a Security Vacuum: International Efforts in Kosovo, 1999-2011

Profile

At the time of this interview, Julie Fleming was chief of the community policing project in Kosovo, working with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the U.S. International Crime Investigative Training Assistance Program. She started working as a police officer in 1985 and worked in California, in Oregon, in the Public Safety Academy, as a consultant in various U.S. states, and finally at the Regional Community Policing Institute (covering six western U.S. states) before coming to Kosovo in 2003 to implement the Community Safety Action Teams program.

Full Audio File Size
62MB
Full Audio Title
Julie Fleming Interview

Muhamet Musliu

Ref Batch
L
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
13
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Muhamet Musliu
Interviewee's Position
Administrative and Language Assistant
Interviewee's Organization
UN Mission in Kosovo Police
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Libyan
Place (Building/Street)
Kosovo Police Headquarters
Town/City
Pristina, Kosovo
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

An administrative and language assistant for the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Police, Muhamet Musliu speaks about his eight-year experience with the service.  Through his role as an interpreter, he gives a firsthand account of the successes and failures of the UNMIK Police.  He discusses the daily police routine and challenges faced by an officer in Kosovo, and he provides detail about ethnic tensions and protests in areas around Mitrovica.  He continues by describing the diversity of the UNMIK Police and the recruiting process.  Finally Musliu discusses the Serbian protest against the Kosovo Declaration of Independence, citing its crippling effect on the UNMIK Police.    

Case Study:  Building the Police Service in a Security Vacuum: International Efforts in Kosovo, 1999-2011

Profile

At the time of the interview Muhamet Musliu was an administrative and language assistant with the U.N. Mission in Kosovo Police.  He worked in the police headquarters in Priština, and had experience from the ethnically diverse territory covered by the Mitrovica South police station. 

Full Audio File Size
83 MB
Full Audio Title
Muhamet Musliu Interview

Keith Biddle

Ref Batch
A
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
4
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Gordon Peake
Name
Keith Biddle
Interviewee's Position
Retired
Interviewee's Organization
British police
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
English
Town/City
Cheshire, Manchester
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Retired British police officer Keith Biddle recounts lessons learned from working on police reform programs in diverse contexts, including in Sierra Leone, where he headed the police force from 1999 to 2004, and in Somalia, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Biddle discusses the challenges of effective information gathering in police force vetting and recruitment. He emphasizes that recruitment is a community- and school-based process that should not be rushed. He goes on to discuss his experience in Sierra Leone in determining whether to recruit rebels into the police force and describes the types of challenges countries have faced in building more professional and meritocratic police forces. Next, Biddle discusses the importance of effective organizational structures to lead the police and cautions that efforts to recruit new talent may be futile to the extent that new officers enter a corrupt structure with the “wrong ethos.” Training programs, he states, should be developed in-house, with regard to context and existing skills, knowledge, and staff capacity, and include topics such as human rights, anti-corruption, and enforcement standards. Effectively combating corruption, Biddle posits, requires making the police vocation “valuable” in terms of reputation and fringe benefits. Ultimately, Biddle notes, police reform is “part of good governance” and must receive support from the highest levels of government. While police reform may be costly, he concludes, post-conflict countries cannot be expected to more forward without sustainable and effective police forces.    

Case Study:  Building Strategic Capacity in the Police: Sierra Leone, 1998-2008

Profile

At the time of this interview, Keith Biddle was a consultant on police reform efforts in Africa and a retired officer of the British police. He became involved in international police reform in 1994 as a member of the British police force, in which capacity he served as deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police and later as assistant inspector of the Constabulary in the Home Office. In 1994, he became the policing adviser to South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission in advance of Nelson Mandela’s election. Following his work in South Africa, Biddle began to work with the U.K. Department for International Development on issues involving police reform, including in Indonesia, Ethiopia, Namibia and South Africa. Between 1999 and 2004, while working with the United Nations under DFID, Biddle headed the police force in Sierra Leone. He subsequently worked on police reform projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, and continued to be involved in police reform efforts in Africa.

Full Audio File Size
178 MB
Full Audio Title
Keith Biddle Interview

Reshat Maliqi

Ref Batch
L
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
12
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Reshat Maliqi
Interviewee's Position
Assistant Commissioner for Operations
Interviewee's Organization
Kosovo Police
Language
English
Place (Building/Street)
Kosovo Police Headquarters
Town/City
Pristina, Kosovo
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

General Reshat Maliqi discusses the main challenges faced by the police in Kosovo, including a boycott by Serbian officers due to the political situation. He gives details about the process of transition between the United Nations forces and the Kosovo Police, and the recruitment and promotion process. In his opinion, the Department for Community Affairs and the Community Policing Unit represented success stories in Kosovo. As the main priorities, he cites boosting investigative capacity through training, better equipping and training specialized units, and joining regional and international police organizations such as Europol and Interpol. He also believes that the Kosovo Police should take more responsibilities and rely less on the international community.

Case Study: Building the Police Service in a Security Vacuum: International Efforts in Kosovo, 1999-2011

Profile

At the time of this interview, General Reshat Maliqi was the assistant commissioner for operations in the Kosovo Police, a post he had held since April 2006. He studied at the Vushtrri Police Academy between 1975 and 1979, after which he worked for the Yugoslav police, including as a security officer at the consulate in San Francisco. In 1994 he was arrested by Serbia for “parallel policing” for Kosovo and was imprisoned for six years. In 2000 he started training with the Kosovo police service and worked for the United Nations mission in Kosovo. In 2003 he was appointed regional commander for Gelani. He was then appointed as head of the border police in Pristina.

Full Audio File Size
82MB
Full Audio Title
General Reshat Maliqi Interview

Peter Miller

Ref Batch
B
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
5
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Peter Miller
Interviewee's Position
Police Commissioner
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Canadian
Town/City
Ottawa
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Peter Miller draws on his experience in East Timor to highlight the challenges of building a domestic police force. He stresses that reformers must resist pressures to politicize the police by hiring unqualified friends of elected officials. Miller also mentions the difficulties posed by donor countries that press for fast action in order to minimize their costs. He says such pressures often produce domestic police forces that are inadequately prepared to take over when interim police units withdraw, as was the case in East Timor. Miller also is critical of the quality of many of the international police officers from contributing countries, especially those without a strong tradition of community policing. He calls for greater investments in the training of police officers before they are deployed, as well as in situ training of citizens. 
Profile

Peter Miller served with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 35 years, during which we worked mainly in international police peacekeeping. Under United Nations auspices, he served as deputy commissioner of operations and training in Haiti, police commissioner for the United Nations in Western Sahara and later as police commissioner in East Timor. In Western Sahara, Miller had police officers from 10 countries under his command and in East Timor he oversaw a police force of 3,000 officers including both local and international police. After retiring from the RCMP, Miller worked with the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, a Canadian nonprofit organization, on capacity building in Africa related to peacekeeping operations.

Full Audio File Size
78 MB
Full Audio Title
Peter Miller - Full Interview

Rachel Neild

Ref Batch
A
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
15
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Rachel Neild
Interviewee's Position
Senior Adviser, Open Society Justice Initiative
Interviewee's Organization
Open Society Institute
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
British/American
Town/City
Washington, DC
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Rachel Neild describes police reform programs in Haiti, El Salvador and other parts of the world. She discusses extensively the challenges of effective recruitment and vetting, particularly in the presence of poor information. She goes on to discuss the process of integrating former combatants into police forces, noting that while starting police reform from scratch may have been necessary in Haiti, this need not be the case in other contexts if former forces are properly vetted and held to the same standards and qualifications as the rest of the police force. Neild goes on to discuss some of the challenges associated with the effective operationalization of the police force, including force composition, professionalization and community involvement. She concludes that policing is a “two-way street” that involves both developing and building trust of the police and ensuring that people “understand the nature of law and rights and responsibilities.”    

Profile

At the time of this interview, Rachel Neild was senior adviser on ethnic profiling and police reform with the Equality and Citizenship Program of the Open Society Justice Initiative. She previously worked with the Washington Office on Latin America, where she was involved in monitoring the Salvadoran peace accords and demilitarization policy in Haiti. She also worked with the Andean Commission of Jurists, Peru, and the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, Costa Rica. Neild has done consultancies on human rights and policing for the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Rights and Democracy, among other organizations.

Full Audio File Size
97 MB
Full Audio Title
Rachel Nelid - Full Interview

Garry Horlacher

Ref Batch
I
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
8
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Garry Horlacher
Interviewee's Position
Security Sector Reform Coordinator
Interviewee's Organization
U.K. Department for International Development
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
British
Place (Building/Street)
State House
Town/City
Freetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Garry Horlacher discusses police reform in Sierra Leone under the auspices of the U.K. Department for International Development and the United Nations. He identifies corrupt and inconsistent recruitment processes and low salaries for undermining the integrity of the Sierra Leone Police, and he emphasizes the need for improved funding and logistics. He discusses steps taken to address these issues, including managing the size of the police force and consistent, centralized recruitment practices. Horlacher also speaks about training and organization of the police force, and emphasizes the importance of coordination mechanisms between departments and agencies. He also discusses nascent performance and information management policies and community policing initiatives. Finally, Horlacher reflects on donor relations and U.N. policies, placing special emphasis on increased and consistent training of both U.N. and local police officers, and the coordination of priorities among donor organizations.
 
Profile

At the time of the interview, Garry Horlacher was security sector reform coordinator for the U.K. Department for International Development. Prior to that, he was part of the U.K. police for 30 years, retiring with the rank of chief superintendent.

Full Audio File Size
63MB
Full Audio Title
Garry Horlacher Interview

Luiz Eduardo Soares

Ref Batch
T
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
1
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Richard Bennet
Name
Luiz Eduardo Soares
Interviewee's Position
National Secretary of Public Security
Interviewee's Organization
Rio de Janeiro
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Brazilian
Place (Building/Street)
Municipal Valuation of Life and Prevention of Violence at Nova Iguacu
Town/City
Rio de Janeiro
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
In this interview, Dr. Luiz Eduardo Soares discusses police criminality, particularly extrajudicial killings, armed invasions, tortures and disrespect towards the poor, and the ideological and political barriers to police reform in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Initially, he describes the process of reforming Brazil’s state institutions during its transition out of a dictatorship. He addresses issues of political polarization and building consensus around reform projects, institutional disorganization, and community policing. Dr. Soares explains the successes of the UPP (Unidade Pacificadora da Policia) program and the GPAE (Grupamento de Policiamento em Areas Especiais) program in establishing secure neighborhoods and rooting out police corruption. In order to scale up the successes of the experimental peace policing initiatives in several of the favelas, Dr. Soares asserts the need for major institutional reform within the police, which would require significant political support. He also stresses the importance of empirical research methods to address social problems. 
 
Profile

At the time of this interview Dr. Luiz Eduardo Soares was the Secretary of Municipal Valuation of Life and Prevention of Nova Iguacu, Rio de Janeiro. He has served in numerous government positions dealing with issues of policing and public safety and in academic positions at various prestigious universities. After completing his Ph.D in Sociology and Political Science and researching and teaching for 15 years at IUPERJ (University Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro), Dr. Soares was appointed to a research position in security policy at ISER (Instituto de Estudos da Religião). In 2003, Dr. Soares became National Secretary of Public Security for Rio de Janeiro. Since occupying this position, he has overseen the implementation of internal police reform programs, such as the UPP and GPAE.

Full Audio File Size
150 MB
Full Audio Title
Dr. Luiz Soares Interview

Martin Schönteich

Ref Batch
A
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
23
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Martin Schönteich
Interviewee's Position
Senior Legal Officer
Interviewee's Organization
Open Society Justice Initiative, Open Society Institute
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
South African
Town/City
New York, NY
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Martin Schönteich, a senior legal officer with the Open Society Justice Initiative, discusses police reform in post-apartheid South Africa. He discusses some of the challenges of the integration and amalgamation of new and old police forces, including in ensuring that the recruitment process was perceived as fair, integrating new forces despite limited retirement of older forces, and the challenges that literacy and resource constraints posed to effectively recruiting and training new forces. He goes on to discuss how South Africa addressed a number of challenges in building its new police agency. Some strategies employed included: increasing pay to attract more and better recruits, implementing new information management systems, and bringing in private consulting agencies to develop internal management structures. Schönteich proceeds to discuss the possibility of greater collaboration between the police and private non-state security actors. He concludes by noting that in countries in transition, developing “sound and effective” institutions takes time. Countries may face an initial increase in crime until institutional reforms are effectively implemented.  

Profile

Martin Schönteich began his professional career in 1994 working as a public prosecutor in Durban, South Africa.  At that time he also volunteered to become a police reservist. In addition to working as a public prosecutor, he has worked in the Crime and Justice Policy Unit of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), a South Africa-based nongovernmental organization that looks at issues of human security in Africa. Before joining the ISS, Schönteich was a public prosecutor with South Africa’s Department of Justice. At the time of this interview, he was a senior legal officer with the Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute. 

Full Audio File Size
104 MB
Full Audio Title
Martin Schonteich - Full Interview