community policing

Adrian Horn

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A
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
9
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Adrian Horn
Interviewee's Position
Police Consultant
Interviewee's Organization
Horn Ltd.
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
United Kingdom
Town/City
Norfolk
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Adrian Horn reflects primarily on his five-year posting as manager of the Community Safety and Security Project in Sierra Leone, a program of of the U.K. government's Department for International Development. During his time in Sierra Leone, he assisted the Sierra Leonean police in overhauling their recruitment procedures and their training programs, and he comments in detail on the challenges and successes. He also talks about the importance of an effective public-relations system for a police service trying to re-establish legitimacy and credibility. He runs through some of the practical anti-corruption initiatives he developed with the Sierra Leonean police, and he reflects on his own management-by-walking-about style. Horn talks about "local-needs policing" as a conceptually similar but more clearly defined form of community policing, and details the successful role of community/police partnership boards.

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

 

Profile

At the time of this interview, Adrian Horn had a long career in the U.K. police, rising to the position of assistant chief constable. He left the police in 1994 to set up a policing consultancy. He has worked in a number of developing and post-conflict countries, and spent five years as the manager of the Department for International Development's Community Safety and Security Project in Sierra Leone. He worked closely with the Sierra Leonean police and Inspector General Keith Biddle during a challenging and transformational time for Sierra Leone.

Full Audio File Size
56 MB
Full Audio Title
Adrian Horn - Full Interview

José Humberto Posada Sánchez

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M
Focus Area(s)
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8
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Flor Hunt
Name
José Humberto Posada Sánchez
Interviewee's Position
Legal Adviser to the Office of General Management
Interviewee's Organization
National Police of El Salvador
Language
Spanish
Nationality of Interviewee
El Salvadoran
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
José Humberto Posada Sánchez begins by describing his work with police legislation in El Salvador and the internal structure of the National Police of El Salvador (Policía Nacional Civil), its rank and promotion system and the initial quota system.  He talks about the demilitarization of the police force and the creation and integration of the new civil police force.  He also discusses crime prevention and investigation, policing and human rights, problems of funding and the role of donor countries in training with community policing.  Efforts taken to reduce corruption, internal divisions and police brutality are also referenced.
Profile

At the time of this interview, José Humberto Posada Sánchez was the legal adviser to the Office of General Management of the National Police of El Salvador (Policía Nacional Civil).  This post involved providing legal counsel, writing legislation and  implementing national legislation into the internal policy of the national police.  He previously served as a member of Congress, ambassador to Guatemala, member of the Central American Parliament and adviser to the vice minister of citizen security after the Sub-Department for Citizen Security was created in 2002.  He also worked on the Ley Orgánica de la Polícia Nacional Civil of 2002, national legislation that sought to strengthen the police force.

Full Audio File Size
114.8MB
Full Audio Title
Jose Posada Sanchez

Mustafa Resat Tekinbas

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L
Focus Area(s)
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17
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Mustafa Resat Tekinbas
Interviewee's Position
Deputy Police Commissioner
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Mission in Kosovo
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Turkish
Place (Building/Street)
U.N. Camp Alpha
Town/City
Pristina, Kosovo
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

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

Profile

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.  

Full Audio File Size
87 MB
Full Audio Title
Mustafa Tekinbas Interview

Osman Gbla

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I
Focus Area(s)
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6
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Osman Gbla
Interviewee's Position
Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Law
Interviewee's Organization
University of Sierra Leone
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Sierra Leone
Place (Building/Street)
Center for Development and Security Analysis
Town/City
Freetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
Yes
Abstract

Osman Gbla talks about the double-edged transition that Sierra Leone has undergone, both from war to peace and from authoritarianism to multiparty democracy. Post-war reconstruction created an opportunity to overhaul the entire security sector. Within the police, reformers changed management structures; created a single department for complaints, discipline and internal investigation; implemented community policing structures that set up local boards across the country; overhauled recruitment and training procedures; and upgraded equipment. The reforms, initially driven by the British and other donors, have been taken over by Sierra Leoneans. Gbla believes that as a result of these reforms, public confidence in the police has grown. However, he notes that sustaining the reform effort will be difficult without continued financial support from donors and international partners.

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

Profile

At the time of this interview, Osman Gbla was dean of the faculty of social science and law for Fourah Bay College at the University of Sierra Leone and founder the Center for Development and Security Analysis. He earned a doctorate, a master's degree in political science and bachelor's degrees from Fourah Bay College. He also received a diploma in advanced international conflict resolution from Uppsala University in Sweden. Gbla carried out several consultancies individually and collaboratively for national, regional and world bodies including the United Nations, World Bank and the Economic Community of West African States. His research covered peace, security and development in West Africa.

Full Audio File Size
17.6MB
Full Audio Title
Dr Osman Gbla-Full Interview

Ranjit Singh Sardara

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P
Focus Area(s)
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16
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Nicolas Lemay-Hebert
Name
Ranjit Singh Sardara
Interviewee's Position
Chief of Operations
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Police, Manatuto, Timor Leste
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Malaysian
Place (Building/Street)
UNPOL Headquarters
Town/City
Manatuto
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Ranjit Singh Sardara discusses the policing role of the U.N. missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Timor-Leste. Being a part of the Bosnian mission, he highlights the significance of community policing, working with non-governmental organizations and ministers to find the best ways to benefit the local citizenry. He also recounts his involvement in overseeing the election process in Visegrad. Regarding the Timor-Leste mission, Sardara describes mentoring plans and the classes organized for the Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste, or the National Police of Timor-Leste. In addition, he describes working with the Suco chiefs to educate the locals on human rights, the duties of the police, child abuse, and domestic violence. Sardara also talks about the U.N.'s internal management and its relationship with the host country’s police and the rest of the population.
Profile

At the time of this interview, Ranjit Singh Sardara was the chief of operations of the United Nations Police in Manatutu, Timor-Leste. He served in the Royal Malaysian Police for 27 years. His experience spanned community policing, traffic cases, crime prevention, and operations and intelligence. Sardara was also a part of the U.N. mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He served as an election officer in Visegrad; he held the post of deputy station commander and later, station commander. Sardara also served as the deputy regional commander of Sarajevo.

 
Full Audio File Size
84MB
Full Audio Title
Ranjit Singh Sardara Interview

Samuel Harbor

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I
Focus Area(s)
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7
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Samuel Harbor
Interviewee's Position
Deputy Resident Representative
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Development Programme, Sierra Leone
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Nigerian
Town/City
Freetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Samuel Harbor discusses his role as the deputy resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Sierra Leone.  He was particularly involved with efforts to reform the Sierra Leone National Police through increased training, capacity building and coordinating the provision of essential equipment.  Harbor identifies the major challenges that these reform efforts faced, including limited funding, high rates of poverty and low rates of pay for officers, donors acting in a leading rather than a supportive role, and reconciling disparate or rival groups within the police force.  He maintains that each change in policy must be sustainable beyond donor involvement and must be nationally owned and led, and he stresses the importance of reformers clearly delineating their goals.  He expresses optimism about the potential for reform, emphasizing that Sierra Leone had the unique opportunity to essentially start from scratch following the lengthy civil war, and that the country had substantial amounts of untapped valuable natural resources.  He also commends the success that the police force had achieved in community policing and in increasing the proportion of women in the service.     

Profile

At the time of this interview, Samuel Harbor was the deputy resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Freetown, Sierra Leone.  He earned his master’s degree in business administration in the United States, then returned to his native Nigeria to work in banking, the stock exchange and as a consultant for Ernst & Young.  In 1986, he joined the U.N. in Nigeria and later worked with the organization in a number of countries, including Gambia, East Timor and Ethiopia, before Sierra Leone. 

Full Audio File Size
43 MB
Full Audio Title
Samuel Harbor Interview

Neil Pouliot

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B
Focus Area(s)
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4
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Neil Pouliot
Interviewee's Position
Retired Chief Superintendent
Interviewee's Organization
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Canadian
Town/City
Ottawa
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Neil Pouliot, a retired chief superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, discusses his experiences as the commander of the United Nations Mission in Haiti from 1994 to 1996. He recounts the security and rule of law challenges posed by the scaling down of U.N. multinational forces. In particular, he describes the challenges associated with effectively recruiting and training new police officers, including the need to demobilize and, in some cases, integrate officers of the former regime. Among the challenges that the U.N. and the international community face in effectively building police services capacity, Pouliot notes, is maintaining continuity between missions and leadership. He argues that police services training is best overseen by integrated multinational forces with diverse language ability and cultural frames of reference. Police reform, he states, requires broader commitment to justice and rule and law from the highest levels of the political sphere. Based on his experiences, Pouliot stresses that it is important that officers have field-based training and live and interact with the communities in which they work.
Profile

Neil Pouliot served as the commander of the military and civilian police components of United Nations Mission in Haiti from 1994 to 1996. In this role, he worked with the government of Haiti to maintain and safe and secure environment, prepare for elections, provide interim security, and oversee police services development. Prior to his work in Haiti, Pouliot worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada, including as the officer in charge of national/international drug operations. He also served as a course coordinator and lecturer at the Canadian Police College and as a resource person for the U.N. Division of Narcotics and Interpol. Pouliot also served as the officer in charge of the Security Offenses Branch for the Criminal Intelligence Directorate in Ottawa and the director of Criminal Intelligence Services Canada, an organization tasked with coordinating intelligence in Canada and internationally through the RCMP and other police forces. At the time of this interview, Pouliot was retired as chief superintendent and was working as a consultant with RCMP.   

Full Audio File Size
65 MB
Full Audio Title
Neil Pouliot - Full Interview

Jim Tillman

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G
Focus Area(s)
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13
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Larisa Jasarevic
Name
Jim Tillman
Interviewee's Position
Program Manager
Interviewee's Organization
International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
American
Town/City
Sarajevo
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Jim Tillman discusses recruitment, politicization and oversight of the Bosnian police from his perspective as program manager for the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program. The previous network of police high schools, in which students committed to police work at age 14 or 15, was dismantled in favor of an application-only process beginning at age 21. He discusses how the United Nations took measures to prevent corruption in the recruitment process, such as giving preferential treatment to familial relations or requiring that cadets pay bribes for admittance into a police training school. Each Bosnian policeman received training in human dignity as part of an effort to reorient the police from a mission of protecting the state to protecting the citizens. Tillman says the Yugoslav police served to protect the interests of the state rather than the interests of the citizens, and the old guard that occupied positions of leadership in the Bosnian police were less amenable to the new community policing ethos than were the new, younger recruits. In addition to human-dignity training, ICITAP stressed in training that the police carry a polite demeanor and neat dress to facilitate daily interactions with their communities and set up an anonymous complaint bureau to improve accountability. Tillman explains that ICITAP set up crime databases to allow the Bosnian police to track crime rates by type and region, in order to develop more targeted and better informed policing strategies. He says depoliticizing the police was a struggle because the old guard was still in place. One innovative approach to shielding police commissioners from political influence and from cantonal ministers of the interior in particular was the establishment of independent panels to recommend candidates for the position of police commissioner. 
Profile

At the time of this interview, Jim Tillman worked in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a program manager for the U.S. Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program. He began his career as a plant manager for the American textile firm Brown Group, after which he became a police officer in the U.S. His first international policing experience was in Haiti, where he worked on police reform and development. He later worked in Azerbaijan, Ukraine and throughout the Balkans.  

Full Audio File Size
72MB
Full Audio Title
Jim Tillman Interview

Richard Moigbe

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I
Focus Area(s)
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14
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Richard Moigbe
Interviewee's Position
Assistant Inspector-General of Police
Interviewee's Organization
Sierra Leone
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Sierra Leone
Town/City
Freetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Assistant Inspector-General of Police Richard Moigbe discusses police restructuring in post-conflict Sierra Leone.  He speaks of efforts to create a unified security structure in Sierra Leone by including many areas of government.  He continues by explaining the efforts of the police force to assess their numbers and their weaknesses.  Realizing their poor image with the public, Moigbe discusses his involvement with the Complaint Discipline and Internal Investigation Department, which gave voice to public complaints against the police.  He also details new efforts to increase community-based policing and curb armed robbery.    

Profile

At the time of this interview, Richard Moigbe was the assistant inspector-general of police in Sierra Leone.  His responsibilities were to develop operational policies, coordinate the work of all police commanders, and provide strategic leadership.  Moigbe joined the police force in 1987 as a cadet officer.  Later, he worked with the anti-smuggling squad, the forgery and fraud squad, the operations department that dealt with robberies and burglaries and with homicide.  He served as a commandant of the police training school.  He was in charge of the research and planning department and the special investigations bureau at the police headquarters.  Moigbe set up the Complaint Discipline and Internal Investigation Department and the Crimes Services Department that integrated the Criminal Investigations Department, the Special Branch and other police intelligence operations.

Full Audio File Size
42 MB
Full Audio Title
Richard Moigbe Interview

Gail Teixeira

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S
Focus Area(s)
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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