internal management

Oliver Somasa

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I
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
17
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Oliver Somasa
Interviewee's Position
Deputy Inspector-General of Police
Interviewee's Organization
Sierra Leone
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Sierra Leonean
Town/City
Freetown
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Oliver Somasa gives an account of the police reforms in Sierra Leone.  The main priorities during the reform process were boosting the police’s crowd-control capacity; strengthening their ability to fight organized crime, drug-trafficking and money laundering; and developing airport and border authority to maximize tax revenues.  Somasa talks about police vetting, recruitment, rank restructuring due to lack of distinct functions across positions, and training. He highlights the role of capacity building in professionalizing the police.  International donors and organizations like the United Nations participated in providing the necessary working tools for the reforms.  Somasa describes the challenges raised by such outside organizations, including administrative bottlenecks and the shuffling of advisers that affected the continuity of operations.  Somasa also explains the establishment of Family Support Units, which increased the reporting of domestic crimes as people gained more confidence in the police.  In addition, he describes the department in charge of complaints, discipline, and internal investigation, which enabled the public to report complaints and to seek redress.  For the analysis of the implemented reforms, Somasa highlights the importance of the monitoring and evaluation department, the change-management board, and public-perception surveys that were conducted by independent bodies. 
Profile
At the time of this interview, Oliver Somasa was the deputy inspector-general of police in Sierra Leone.  He joined the Sierra Leone Police in 1987 as an officer cadet.   He later underwent training in drug-enforcement analysis in Vienna and on returning, he became the head of the anti-narcotics squad in the Criminal Investigation Department. 
Full Audio Title
Audio file not available.

Agathe Florence Lele

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F
Focus Area(s)
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1
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Arthur Boutellis
Name
Agathe Florence Lele
Interviewee's Position
Senior Police Adviser
Interviewee's Organization
United Nations Integrated Mission in Burundi
Language
French
Nationality of Interviewee
Cameroonian
Town/City
Bujumbura
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Agathe Lele comments on the originality of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Burundi, where the police unit was part of the SSR/SA unit; in most other peacekeeping missions, the police adviser responds directly to the SRSG/head of mission. One major achievement was the adoption of a new organizational chart for the Burundi National Police in September 2007, with new  commissariats to coordinate different police services at the regional level. She describes some of the mission's other programs of support: equipment and training, uniforms, communication at regional levels, databases for personnel and crimes, sensitization on gender, programs with intelligence service and general inspection.  Some of the greatest challenges, according to Lele, stemmed from a young police force that grew quickly due to the integration process, citing the vetting that would take place under the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.  Lele also addresses some of the issues related to bilateral cooperation.
Profile

Agathe Florence Lele graduated from the Cameroon police academy in 1980, worked for 14 years in the intelligence unit, attended training in France in 2000 and 2005, served as a member of the Interpol executive committee from 2003 to 2006, and became the director of training in Cameroon during 2006-2007. At the time of this interview, she was the senior police adviser with the United Nations Integrated Mission in Burundi, a post that she began in June 2007.

Full Audio File Size
72 MB
Full Audio Title
Agathe Lele - Full Interview

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

Author
Daniel Scher
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Abstract

In 2006, Saidi Mwema, Tanzania's newly appointed Inspector General of Police, launched a long-term reform program that sought to address the rising incidence of crime, the negative public perception of the police, and the lack of police personnel and resources.  The police service suffered from decades of financial neglect and a poor reputation.  Its initial mandate emphasized regime policing, which oriented the police toward maintaining law and order for the protection of the state rather than the protection of the citizenry.  On taking office, Mwema took bold steps to set a new tone for the police, including releasing the private telephone numbers of the police hierarchy and initiating investigations into suspected donors to the ruling Revolutionary State Party.  He followed these initial reforms with a strategy-delineated by a "team of experts" comprising senior police officers and academics from the University of Dar es Salaam-to address the weaknesses of the police service.  Though the reform process remained in its early stages in 2009, some progress was evident, primarily in the improved reputation of the police and more amicable relations between the police and the public.  The case offers lessons for police services seeking to overcome poor reputations and community distrust through the adoption of a community-based ethos after decades of state-oriented policing.

Daniel Scher drafted this case study on the basis of interviews conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2009. Jonathan Friedman contributed. 

Associated Interview(s): Lucas Kusima, Benson BanaSemboja Haji, Sifuni Mchome

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

Semboja Haji

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Focus Area(s)
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2
Critical Tasks
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Semboja Haji
Interviewee's Position
Researcher
Interviewee's Organization
Economic Research Bureau, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Tanzanian
Place (Building/Street)
University of Dar es Salaam
Town/City
Dar es Salaam
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
Yes
Abstract
Semboja Haji describes the challenges facing police reform in Tanzania in 2006 and the assignment of a “team of experts,” which he led, to devise a reform strategy.  He explains that prior attempts at police reform had failed because of a lack of commitment by the government and insufficient financial resources. He says outdated laws and regulations, some stemming from the colonial era, governed the police.The team, comprising seven academics and 28 police, conducted two years of research, including interviews with more than 2,500 police, politicians and civil society leaders, and reviews of police reform efforts in other countries.  He explains that members of the Tanzanian police bought into the reform program because they felt the reforms reflected the input and suggestions they offered in interviews. He says the reform program was entirely designed by Tanzanians without external advisers or donors in order to avoid constraints imposed by donors, and because foreign experts lacked an intimate knowledge of policing conditions in Tanzania.
 
Profile

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.

Full Audio File Size
53MB
Full Audio Title
Semboja Haji Interview

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

Author
Morgan Greene, Jonathan (Yoni) Friedman and Richard Bennet
Focus Area(s)
Country of Reform
Abstract
In 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened to end a brutal war between the Kosovo Liberation Army on one side and the Yugoslav Army and Serb police on the other. After 78 days of air strikes over Kosovo and Serbia, Yugoslav forces officially disengaged from Kosovo on 20 June. The departure created a policing vacuum in a society that had deep ethnic divisions.  Kosovo’s Albanians attacked residents of Serb descent in retaliation for earlier ethnic violence.  Crime and looting spread while criminal gangs asserted control in lawless parts of the territory. Serb officers had vastly outnumbered Albanians in Kosovo’s police service and had taken their direction from Belgrade. As many Serbs fled and others refused to cooperate with Kosovan authorities, Kosovo lost its trained police and police infrastructure. To fill the void, the United Nations assumed executive authority over the territory.  Together with other international groups, the U.N. mission worked to establish and maintain law and order while organizing and training a Kosovo Police Service to assume gradual control. By 2008, the Kosovo police had become a professional force, securing law and order and developing one of the best reputations in the region. This case study offers an example of how a sustained effort by the international community can produce an effective police service in the wake of conflict.
 

Morgan Greene, Jonathan Friedman and Richard Bennet drafted this case study on the basis of interviews conducted in Priština and Mitrovica, Kosovo, in July 2011, as well as interviews conducted in Kosovo by Arthur Boutellis in July 2008. Case published February 2012.

Associated Interview(s):  Shantnu Chandrawat, Julie Fleming, Iver Frigaard, Oliver Janser, Reshat Maliqi, Muhamet Musliu, Robert Perito, Behar Selimi, Riza Shillova, Mustafa Resat Tekinbas

 

José Hugo Granadino Mejía

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M
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
7
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Flor Hunt
Name
José Hugo Granadino Mejía
Interviewee's Position
Chief, Professional Training Unit
Interviewee's Organization
National Police of El Salvador
Language
Spanish
Nationality of Interviewee
El Salvadoran
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
José Hugo Granadino Mejía begins by describing the process of integrating various factions into the police, and he recounts fears (that never materialized) that members of formerly opposing sides would kill each other. He gives details about the curriculum used during police training at the academy, about the entry quota system and about the academic degree requirements for new recruits. He describes in detail the promotion system within the police force and the way in which the police incorporated new ideas and procedures. Relations with donor countries are also discussed, and he gives great importance to the financial and technical support that the police force received from the international community.
Profile

At the time of this interview, José Hugo Granadino Mejía was chief of the professional training unit of the National Police of El Salvador. A lawyer and notary, he in 1993 became one of the first professors at the National Academy of Public Security (Academia Nacional de Seguridad Pública), an institution separate from the National Police. He also served as director of study and later as director general of the academy, and he worked as a professor of law at the Universidad de El Salvador for 25 years and at the Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador.

Full Audio File Size
117MB
Full Audio Title
Jose Granadino Mejía Interview (Spanish)

Astor Escalante Saravia

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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

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

Author
Jonathan (Yoni) Friedman
Focus Area(s)
Country of Reform
Abstract

Sierra Leone’s police service had a reputation for abuse and corruption even before the 1991-2002 civil war that slashed its numbers by a third and all but destroyed its infrastructure. Taking office in 1996, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah set a high priority on police reform to ensure stability for postwar reconstruction and economic development. The United Kingdom, acting through the Commonwealth, was the primary benefactor, providing equipment, trainers and even an inspector general to lead the service during the first years of reform. By 2008, the Sierra Leone police featured strong and capable senior leadership, improved capacity for criminal investigations, and a positive relationship with the Sierra Leonean public. Although concerns about the sustainability of these reforms and the feasibility of additional changes remained in 2008, the development of the Sierra Leone Police during the preceding decade was an example of successful post-conflict police reform in a West African state.


Jonathan Friedman wrote this policy note based on interviews by Arthur Boutellis in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in May 2008. Case published November 2011.

Associated Interview(s):  Keith Biddle, Robert Bradley, Kadi Fakondo, Osman Gbla, Garry Horlacher, Adrian Horn, Sheka Mansaray

José Humberto Posada Sánchez

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M
Focus Area(s)
Ref Batch Number
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