Giorgio Butini, police adviser to the Office of the EUSR/EU Commission Delegation in Skopje, Macedonia, recounts his experiences while serving as central coordinator and deputy head of program for Proxima, the European Union police mission in the former Yugoslav republic.  During 18 years with the Italian State Police, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.  Butini discusses the coordination of efforts of various external organizations in the transition from a military to civilian police force in Macedonia.  His reflections about the representation of ethnic Albanians and Macedonians in the reformed police force and his insights into the coordination of efforts between and among external and internal actors contribute to the conversation on structural components of policing reform.

Kadi Fakondo discusses improvements in policing in Sierra Leone in the few years prior to the 2008 interview. She discusses the emphasis placed on management, human rights, electoral policing and crowd control within the Sierra Leone Police. Fakondo also reflects on the creation of the highly successful Family Support Unit for victims of domestic or sexual violence. She discusses the success of police in improving recruitment and training procedures and increasing transparency. She praises the media for creating awareness and attributes improved media relations to the democratization and transparency of the police organization. Fakondo also discusses support from international organizations and donors in bolstering police operations.     

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

Janice Jackson recounts her dealings with the Guyana National Police in implementing a standardized domestic-violence training program.  Her grassroots approach to identifying the scourge of domestic violence, initiating contact with the police commissioner, and beginning with a "training for trainers" session is instructive in its simplicity.  Jackson discusses her personal encounters with police officers who attended the training sessions and explains the standardization of the training that took place over years.  She emphasizes that the success of any police training program relies on the ownership of the program by the police and offers suggestions as to the financial resource commitment and training rotation for training both new and experienced officers.  She shares thoughts on a reporting system whereby participants can evaluate the training and revisit lessons learned.

Mike McCormack, co-president of the Guyana Human Rights Association at the time of this interview, discusses many challenges to protecting human rights in Guyana.  With more than 30 years' experience working on human rights issues in the country, he is able to chart progress and setbacks with a deep knowledge base.  McCormack reflects on the extra-judicial killings of the past and present, the drug-related incidents that have become more common, and tensions between the human rights community and the police.  McCormack also touches upon the ethnic representation of the police and perceptions among the Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese communities as well as the disparities between the rural and urban police units.  He draws a distinct line between the prison system and the police as an organization.

As a technical assistant to the Ministry of Gender in Liberia, Paavani Reddy discusses her key task of mainstreaming gender-based policies in the national security sector. She explains the challenges in increasing the number of women in the security sector and in making the services offered more gender friendly, which included limited capacity in terms of personnel and resources. Reddy describes the national police’s Accelerated Learning Program for women who were unable to complete their high school education; the program aimed to raise the number of female police by enabling them to meet the application requirements for recruitment.   Also, she discusses violence against women, particularly rape and the need for the police to focus more on crime prevention through community policing. She highlights the significance of establishing a civilian oversight body that deals with both the army and the police to ensure that they are more gender sensitive.  

Case Study: Building an Inclusive, Responsive National Police Service: Gender-Sensitive Reform in Liberia, 2005-2011 and Building Civilian Police Capacity: Post-Conflict Liberia, 2003-2011

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.