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Johan Burger

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C
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
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)
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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

Ulrich Schiefelbein

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J
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
16
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Ulrich Schiefelbein
Interviewee's Position
National Police Administration Advisory Team Leader
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Mission in Liberia
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
German
Place (Building/Street)
Pan African Plaza
Town/City
Monrovia
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Ulrich Schiefelbein, the Liberian national police administration advisory team leader, talks about the objective of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, which was mainly to keep peace and to reconstruct the national police force. He identifies the challenges the Liberian police faced, including lack of proper documentation, logistical problems, limited infrastructure, lack of policing skills, financial difficulties that hindered the proper payment of the officers, corruption due to inadequate supervision and lack of public confidence in the local police. Schiefelbein explains how the U.N. police began to train the Liberian police, conduct a police census while working with the local officers, install a personnel data filing system to help curb payroll problems and create shared computer resources to ensure continuity of work between officers working different shifts. He also recommends community policing and setting a priority in the installation of communication channels as part of the process of professionalizing the Liberian police force.
 
Profile
At the time of this interview, Ulrich Schiefelbein was working with the United Nations Police in the mission in Liberia as the national police administration advisory team leader. He began his police career in Germany. He served as a patrol officer, deputy chief of the Drug Investigation Unit and as the chief of the Administration Unit. In 1997 and 1998, Schiefelbein participated in two U.N. missions in Bosnia. 
Full Audio File Size
45MB
Full Audio Title
Ulrich Schiefelbein Interview

Ibrahim Idris

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J
Focus Area(s)
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5
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Ibrahim Idris
Interviewee's Position
Police Operations Coordinator and Officer in Charge
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Mission in Liberia
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Nigerian
Town/City
Monrovia
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Ibrahim Idris, the deputy commissioner of the Nigerian police, recounts his experience working in the United Nations mission in Liberia as it relates to police reforms.  He explains how the Liberian National Police was disorganized after the war.  The U.N. Police deactivated the national police, opened a police academy and built more police stations throughout the country. Idris states that the initial focus was on individual capacity development. He describes recruitment, vetting and training processes. He identifies gender challenges, as women tended to be less educated and less represented in the national police. Hence, the U.N. set up a special education program for women who wanted to join the police service. Idris explains that the U.N. later concentrated on institutional development, which involved depoliticization, management and leadership, technical specialization and the creation of legal documents like the Police Act and the duty manual. He also discusses the role of establishing an external oversight body and strengthening Police Community Forums in fostering police accountability.
 
Profile

At the time of this interview, Ibrahim Idris was a United Nations police operations coordinator and the officer in charge of the U.N. mission in Liberia.  He arrived in Liberia in 2004 as a U.N. police adviser. In his homeland of Nigeria, he was the deputy commissioner of police.  He joined the Nigerian police service in 1984 as a cadet officer.  He later served as a crime and traffic officer.  In 1987, he transferred to the Police Mobile Force, a special unit that dealt with riot control and anti-insurgency operations.  He served as the commandant of the Mobile Police Training School from 1998 to 2004.

Full Audio File Size
100MB
Full Audio Title
Idriss Ibriham Interview

Aaron Weah

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J
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
17
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Aaron Weah
Interviewee's Position
National Program Assistant
Interviewee's Organization
International Center for Transitional Justice
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Liberian
Town/City
Monrovia
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Aaron Weah, the national program assistant at the International Center for Transitional Justice, talks about police reforms in Liberia. He discusses the deactivation of the former national police and the process of recruitment, vetting and training. He explains that the new police force had a human rights component, and it accounted for equal geographical representation, that is, ethnic representation, to limit politicization.  Weah also identifies the challenges faced when carrying out the reforms, which included the presence of armed ex-combatants, inadequate logistics, police underpayment, lack of public confidence in the police and the issue of fewer women in the force. Based on a study he conducted, Weah advocates learning the best police practices from other countries, for instance, the development of police-military relations, collaboration between the security sector and the civil society, and the amalgamation of security institutions. 
 
Profile

At the time of this interview, Aaron Weah was national program assistant at the International Center for Transitional Justice in Liberia. Before that, he worked for the Center for Democratic Empowerment. Initially, he was a research assistant and later, he became the program associate. He served as the focal person on the Security Sector Working Group, which was a coalition of leading civil-society organizations in Liberia that were committed to research and advocacy with the aim of guiding public policy processes on the reform of security agencies.  As part of the working group, he visited Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa to try to identify best practices in police reform. 

Full Audio File Size
50MB
Full Audio Title
Aaron Weah Interview

Benson Bana

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T
Focus Area(s)
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1
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Benson Bana
Interviewee's Position
Senior Lecturer
Interviewee's Organization
University of Dar es Salaam
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Tanzanian
Town/City
Dar es Salaam
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Benson Bana, a senior lecturer on public administration and human resource at the University of Dar es Salaam, discusses police internal management in Tanzania. He talks about the central focus areas of police reforms: community policing, professionalization and modernization. He stresses the need to define the organization’s core values so as to change people’s mindset and to attune the legal administrative framework and the Police General Orders to the set vision. Bana also notes the significance of human-resource planning. As part of the reform process, he recommends that police install human-resource management information systems to deal with such issues as staff acquisition, training and attrition. He also advocates the formation of a counseling unit to assure the police’s health and safety. In addition, Bana advises the police to set standards and to refine their performance management system so that it reflects modern methods. He highlights the significance of improved legal literacy among the public, support from political leadership, internal and external pressure and the overall demand for accountability and democracy in propelling police reforms. To promote growth and efficiency within the police force, Bana encourages public-private partnerships—provided that the assistance offered does not compromise the police’s integrity.     

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

Profile

At the time of this interview, Benson Bana was a senior lecturer on public administration and human resource management for the Research and Education for Democracy in Tanzania program at the University of Dar es Salaam. He also consulted and conducted research in the same fields. A Tanzanian citizen, Bana earned a doctorate from the University of Manchester in the U.K. He worked in the Tanzanian public service, and as a human resource training and development manager in a multinational company. 

Full Audio File Size
74MB
Full Audio Title
Benson Bana Interview

Douglas Irvine

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N
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
4
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Itumeleng Makgetla
Name
Douglas Irvine
Interviewee's Position
Technical Adviser
Interviewee's Organization
Commission on Provincial Government of South Africa
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
South African
Town/City
Johannesburg
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Douglas Irvine, a technical adviser to the Commission on Provincial Government of South Africa, discusses the commission's work from 1994 to 1996.  He first locates the commission’s work in general debates on the provinces and local government at the time. He describes the challenges that the new provincial administrations confronted. He then talks about the composition of the commission and its advisory structures. Irvine explains how the commission advised the Constitutional Assembly on issues relating to the provinces and local government, and the key recommendations that the assembly included in the final constitutional text. He discusses the commission’s efforts to address the issue of traditional authorities and the introduction of the National Council of Provinces. He concludes by reflecting on the overall performance of the commission and its influence over other governmental organizations.    

Case Study:  Refashioning Provincial Government in Democratic South Africa, 1994-96

Profile

At the time of this interview, Douglas Irvine was a technical adviser to the Commission on Provincial Government of South Africa. He was also greatly involved in issues related to public management policy for the new state. Earlier, Irvine served as head of the Department of Political Studies and the dean of Social Science at the University of Natal. He took early retirement in 1996 to work in the field of applied development policy. In 2002, he joined the Small Business Project, a not-for-profit company based in South Africa, where he became the director of programs and research. 

Full Audio File Size
99MB
Full Audio Title
Douglas Irvine Interview

Astor Escalante Saravia

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M
Focus Area(s)
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1
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Flor Hunt
Name
Astor Escalante Saravia
Interviewee's Position
Vice Minister of Public Security and Justice
Interviewee's Organization
El Salvador
Language
Spanish
Nationality of Interviewee
El Salvadoran
Place (Building/Street)
Ministry of Public Security
Town/City
San Salvador
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

Astor Escalante Saravia explains the internal development of the Ministry of Public Security in El Salvador, which oversees all pertinent branches, including the National Civil Police and the National Academy for Public Security.  He describes a multi-player approach to institutional reform that involves the National Council on Security and Peace, UNDP, and a number of NGOs that specialize in crime prevention and rehabilitation for former gang members.  While recent reforms have been successful, he says, lack of resources remains a challenge. Concerning the National Civil Police, Saravia identifies three areas for improvement. The first has to do with the failure of the current model to insulate police officers who work within their own communities from risks and ties to the criminals that operate in the same turf. The second critical issue involves corruption.  He emphasizes the role of perception, and highlights the large impact of small measures like changing the uniforms of the Transit Police to increase accountability.  The third issue concerns proper police conduct and the problem of police brutality, which he says is being addressed nationwide by virtual training based on case studies.

Profile

At the time of this interview, Astor Escalante Saravia was El Salvador's vice minister of public security and justice, a post he held since 2006.  He was the director of the penitentiary system in 2005, after working for eight years in the National Public Prosecutor’s office as a prosecutor and chief prosecutor.  Previously he served as an adviser to the Ministry of Government, which oversaw the security sector until the Ministry of Public Security was created with a mandate to govern the police and associated agencies.

Full Audio File Size
72MB
Full Audio Title
Astor Escalante Saravia Interview