information sources

Doug Coates

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B
Focus Area(s)
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2
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Doug Coates
Interviewee's Position
Superintendent
Interviewee's Organization
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Canadian
Town/City
Ottawa
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
Yes
Abstract

Doug Coates, the director of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police International Peace Operations program, recounts his experiences and lessons learned in building effective international and indigenous policing capacity.  Drawing on his experiences in Haiti from 1993 to 1995, where he served as a regional commander with the United Nations Mission to Haiti, Coates describes the challenges associated with the effective vetting, recruitment, and training of police services.  He notes that training and professionalizing local and national police forces, particularly in a country without a strong foundation in formal policing, necessitates taking into account the local context and community needs.  Coates also discusses the current efforts of the RCMP to develop a more rigorous predeployment international police-training program.  He stresses that support for police participation in international peace operations requires recognition of the fundamental linkages between domestic and international security concerns.  He argues that the international community “has to invest and invest for the long term” to strengthen police services to deal “with the challenges associated to maintaining law and order in the 21st century.”    

Profile

Doug Coates began his involvement in international policing in 1993 as a member of the United Nations advance team to the U.N. Mission to Haiti.  He then served as a regional commander in Haiti’s Grand'Anse region, where he was responsible for the development of policing services, training of the (at that time) interim security force, and maintenance of law and order throughout the region.  From 1996 to 2001, Coates managed the peacekeeping department of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, including the management of a mission in Haiti and the deployment of Canadian police to peacekeeping operations around the world.  He then served as the director of police programs and as chief operating officer to the Pearson Peacekeeping Center, a private, nongovernmental organization based in Ottawa; in that capacity, he was involved in the development and implementation of military police and civilian programming.  At the time of the interview, Coates served as the director of the RCMP’s International Peace Operations program.  His international experience in international policing included Haiti, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; he also worked on police capacity-building programs in Africa.  Coates died in the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where he was serving as the acting police commissioner for the U.N. Stabilization Mission.


Full Audio File Size
88 MB
Full Audio Title
Doug Coates - Full Interview

Peter Miller

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B
Focus Area(s)
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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

Keith Biddle

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A
Focus Area(s)
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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

Benjamin Cestoni

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M
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2
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Flor Hunt
Name
Benjamin Cestoni
Interviewee's Position
Acting Director
Interviewee's Organization
National Academy for Public Security, El Salvador
Language
Spanish
Nationality of Interviewee
El Salvadoran
Town/City
San Salvador
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Benjamin Cestoni describes the recruitment procedures employed by El Salvador's National Academy for Public Security.  Every three months, the process begins with a national recruitment announcement, a sequence of five qualifying exams that apply appropriate standards for both male and female potential cadets, personal interviews, and a vetting process that involves background checks within the recruits’ communities.  Cestoni identifies the financial burden associated with foregoing salaried employment while at the academy as a challenge for both recruitment and completion of training.  The effectiveness of each recruitment round depends on the agricultural seasons, and there is a high drop-out rate due to cadets finding paid employment.  The main incentive to join the academy is the prospect of long-term job stability, but Cestoni says the promotion system must be improved.  He underscores the success of recruitment of women, whose enrollment increased from 4% to 7%.  He identifies areas of present and potential coordination with the National Civil Police.  First, a recent curricular shift at the academy favors hands-on, skill-intensive training over theoretical instruction, which necessitates the cooperation of the police.  Second, there is constant feedback between the two institutions, so that training workshops are developed in response to the needs of acting officers.  This process resulted in great improvement in the area of investigations.  Nonetheless, Cestoni points to a need for coordinated follow-up on students after graduation, to consolidate assessment of each officer’s career progress.  Cestoni attributes academy modernization to the support offered by the international community, especially from Spain, France and the United States.  His most important suggestion for cost-efficient cooperation is for donors to emphasize deployment of trainers to the host country over inviting trainees to donor countries.

Profile

At the time of this interview, Benjamin Cestoni was the acting director of the National Academy for Public Security in El Salvador, a position he had held since 2006.  A lawyer by training, he worked at the Attorney General’s Office for 12 years and was appointed as the executive director of the Commission for Human Rights under President Álvaro Magaña in 1982.  He subsequently served as the presidential commissioner for human eights during the administrations of presidents José Napoleón Duarte and Alfredo Cristiani.  His political career began when he was appointed as President Armando Calderón’s personal secretary.  Cestoni was then elected as deputy to the Central American Parliament, and served as minister of transportation.

Full Audio File Size
79 MB
Full Audio Title
Benjamin Cestoni Interview

Brian Dobrich

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P
Focus Area(s)
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21
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Nicolas Lemay-Hebert
Name
Brian Dobrich
Interviewee's Position
Director, Strategic Information Department
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Police, East Timor
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Australian
Place (Building/Street)
National Police Headquarters
Town/City
Dili
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Brian Dobrich describes his role in the United Nations mission in Timor-Leste, where he was serving at the time of the interview. He describes how the U.N. police initially mentored the National Police of Timor-Leste on how to conduct investigations. In the first half of the interview, he explains how the U.N. dealt with crime in the districts and with the problem of gangs in the capital, Dili. In the second half, he talks about the internal workings of such U.N. missions, including problems of inefficiency, rigidity and bureaucracy. He also offers advice on how to build good relations with the local police force.
Profile
At the time of this interview, Brian Dobrich was a member of the Australian Federal Police, dealing mainly with frauds against the government, narcotics, and counter-terrorism. His latest overseas mission was in Timor-Leste, working for the United Nations to restore law and order and to ensure security and policing in Dili, following fighting between the Timorese military and the police. At the time of the interview, he was director of the Strategic Information Department  for the U.N. police mission in Timor-Leste. He served with the U.N. peacekeeping force in Cyprus in 1981 and with UNPOL in 1997. These assignments were followed by service with the U.N.Transitional Administration in Timor-Leste in 2001 and two non-U.N. missions in the Solomon Islands.
Full Audio File Size
69MB
Full Audio Title
Brian Dobrich Interview

Lucas Kusima

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T
Focus Area(s)
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5
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Lucas Kusima
Interviewee's Position
Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police
Interviewee's Organization
Tanzania
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Tanzanian
Town/City
Dar es Salaam
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Lucas Kusima talks about reforms in policing prompted by the change in Tanzania's government leadership in 2005. He describes the shortfalls in recruitment of local police and the need to change training methods to improve professionalism and a greater understanding of human rights. He talks about the difficulties of modernizing equipment and information technologies when funding must come from the communities the police serve. Kusima discusses the medium-term strategic plan for reform that is part of the national vision for development by 2025 and the methods used to compile a reform document that is inclusive and builds citizen confidence. He describes the unexpected obstacles of trying to bring about reform such as the need to amend laws and the resistance to change by the police force. Financing remains the biggest challenge, he says. The foremost achievement was building the confidence of the public, and he talks about ways public confidence in community policing is measured.  

Case Study: Restoring Police Service with a Community Vision: Tanzania, 2006-2009

Profile

At the time of this interview, Lucas Kusima was assistant commissioner of police in Tanzania. He previously served as senior superintendent of police.

Full Audio File Size
79MB
Full Audio Title
Lucas Kusima Interview

Johan Burger

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C
Focus Area(s)
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15
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Johan Burger
Interviewee's Position
Senior Lecturer, Crime and Justice Programme
Interviewee's Organization
Institute for Security Studies
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
South African
Town/City
Pretoria
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Johan Burger talks about crime and policing in South Africa. To fight crime, he contends that the focus should be on its root causes, including, socioeconomic conditions, and the criminal justice system. He advocates the adoption of an integrated strategy that involves governmental and non-governmental departments to address these conditions and political factors. Burger discusses the National Crime Prevention Strategy that was adopted in 1996. The strategy failed due to lack of a shared understanding of crime and policing among politicians, lack of funding, a disregard for socioeconomic conditions, and the inability of police to deliver immediate and visible results on crime prevention. He also describes the various operations under the Community Safety Plan and the National Crime Combating Strategy, which focused on serious and violent crimes, organized crime, crimes against women and children, and improving service delivery. Burger recounts his experience working on the change-management team, which dealt with reforming the police. He talks about police demilitarization and rank restructuring. He describes the confusion and the decline in police morale and discipline that emerged as a result. Burger also challenges community policing. While he acknowledges instances of success, he argues that it is idealistic in terms of its expectations on how the police, in partnership with communities, can fight crime. He identifies sector policing as being more practical and tangible. Though it is still a joint effort between the police and the community, the police resolve only what they can and refer what they are unable to deal with to other government institutions.    

Profile

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. 

Full Audio File Size
93 MB
Full Audio Title
Johan Burger - Full Interview

Ramchrisen Haveria

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P
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
15
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Nicolas Lemay-Hebert
Name
Ramchrisen Haveria
Interviewee's Position
Deputy District Commander
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste
Language
English
Place (Building/Street)
National Police Headquarters
Town/City
Newtown Area, Baucau
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Ramchristen Haveria explains the role of the United Nations missions in Timor-Leste and in Kosovo. The main goal of the missions is to assist both countries to establish effective police systems through their mentoring program while working with the local communities. The implementation of the U.N. guidelines in both countries is quite similar. Haveria discusses how the United Nations Police (UNPOL) contributed in the improvement of order in Timor-Leste by teaching the local police ways of implementing and maintaining public order. Some of the challenges they faced in the missions were cultural and language barriers, logistics problems, and hostility in some areas. Haveria also discusses the U.N. internal management and its relationship with the local personnel and the rest of the population.
Profile

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. 

Full Audio File Size
56MB
Full Audio Title
Ramchristen Haveria Interview

Carlos Humberto Vargas García

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M
Focus Area(s)
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3
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Flor Hunt
Name
Carlos Humberto Vargas García
Interviewee's Position
Chief of Studies
Interviewee's Organization
National Academy of Public Security, El Salvador
Language
Spanish
Nationality of Interviewee
El Salvadoran
Place (Building/Street)
National Academy of Public Security
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Carlos Humberto Vargas García describes the challenges of establishing a police academy in El Salvador after the Peace Accords of 1992.  He begins by explaining the recruitment and training process, the academic-degree requirements for candidates, and the quota system.  Challenges that he faced in training the police force include lack of resources, internal administrative issues and lingering resentment between the former warring factions.  He describes the usefulness of his training with ICITAP (the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program), the role of donor countries, the training curriculum, community policing and the importance of having an integrated police. He contends that while it is important to receive aid and training from multiple countries,  international donors should not impose preconditions, as they are not familiar with the local reality. 
Profile

At the time of this interview, Carlos Humberto Vargas García was the chief of studies at the National Academy of Public Security in El Salvador, an institution separate from the national police. From 1992 to 1995, he was the first sub-director of the academy, and he trained in the U.S. and Central America with ICITAP, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program. He also worked in the private sector, in other universities in El Salvador as a professor of engineering, and for the Instituto Salvadoreño de Formación Profesional, which is in charge of non-formal education.

Full Audio File Size
84.5MB
Full Audio Title
Vargas Garcia Interview

Francis Alieu Munu

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I
Focus Area(s)
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15
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Francis Alieu Munu
Interviewee's Position
Assistant Inspector General, Crime Services
Interviewee's Organization
Sierra Leone Police
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Sierra Leonean
Place (Building/Street)
Sierra Leone Police headquarters
Town/City
Freetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Francis Munu discusses reforms in the Sierra Leone Police, many of which were ongoing at the time of the interview. He speaks about the challenges confronting the police in the wake of the Sierra Leone Civil War, especially in dealing with rebel forces. He discusses many of the successes in dealing with these issues: more transparent recruitment, policing of refugee camps and elections, improved community relations, new means of addressing gender-motivated crime, and the highly successful Community Arms Collection and Destruction Program. Munu discusses police success in improving community relations through outreach, improved service delivery and improved media relations. He also speaks about some of the contemporary challenges facing the police, including crimes committed by youth and a burgeoning drug-trafficking problem. Finally, Munu reflects upon improvements that he sees as key to future progress, especially the use of electronic databases for criminal identification and advanced forensic techniques for investigations.
Profile

At the time of this interview,  Francis Munu was assistant inspector general for crime services at the Sierra Leone Police. He joined the police service in 1984 and held various positions prior to becoming assistant inspector general.

Full Audio File Size
64MB
Full Audio Title
Francis Munu Interview