At the time of this interview, Johan Burger was a senior lecturer in the Crime and Justice Programme at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.  Before that, he was a lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology in the department of Safety and Security Management. Burger joined the police service in 1968 and retired in 2004 as an assistant commissioner.  Within the police force, he worked as a station commissioner and investigating officer. He was involved in policy and strategy development. Burger became a member of the change-management team that was created in 1993 as South Africa moved toward a new democracy. He later headed Strategy and Policy Development for the South African police service. 

At the time of this interview, Semboja Haji was a researcher at the Economic Research Bureau at the University of Dar es Salaam. Trained as an econometrician in Sweden and Norway, he later became a senior research fellow at the Economic and Social Research Foundation in Tanzania, where he worked for eight years. He helped develop the Tanzania 2025 Vision and Zanzibar 2020 Vision strategies, and had extensive experience advising the Tanzanian government in areas including national investment policy, energy policy, telecommunication, economic growth and poverty reduction.

At the time of this interview, Peter F. Zaizay was Liberia's deputy minister for administration and the acting minister for national security. He began his career in private security in 1986. He worked with the Jascere Security Services. In 1992, Zaizay joined the Liberian National Police, and he worked in the Patrol Division, the Criminal Investigation Division and the Criminal Intelligence Unit. He also served as an assistant director of police for press and public affairs from 2004 to 2006. Later, he became the deputy director of police for training and then the commandant of the National Police Training Academy, a position he held from 2006 to 2007.

At the time of the interview, Pedro Baltazar González was the executive sub-director of El Salvador's National Academy of Public Security. He began his career in the military, where he served for 10 years, reaching the rank of lieutenant.  After graduating from the academy, he worked as part of the elite forces, hostage-rescue and public-security units.  González served as sub-director general of the National Civil Police until 2006, when he left to work at the academy.

At the time of this interview, Ramchristen Haveria was the deputy district commander for the United Nations Integrated Mission in Baucau, Timor-Leste. He previously worked at the regional operations office in the Philippines. Also, he served concurrently as the station chief of the Police Community Relations Office and as the chief of the Internal Affairs Office. He also worked as the chief of the Drug Enforcement Unit and as the assistant chief of the Special Operations group. He was involved in U.N. missions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo. 

At the time of this interview, Robin Campbell was a consultant for both public and private-sector organizations undergoing structural change, with a particular emphasis on police services in developing countries. He previously was the deputy change manager and director of corporate development responsible for the implementation of the Patten Commission recommendations for the police in Northern Ireland.  The Patten recommendations guided the 10-year process of police reform that saw the Royal Ulster Constabulary transformed into the Police Service of Northern Ireland.  Campbell served as the chief superintendent of the police service before launching his own consultancy.  He worked in many countries in the developing world.