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.

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.

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.

At the time of this interview, Joseph Kekula was the former inspector-general of the Liberian National Police. He specialized in VIP protection and worked in the presidential mansion. He came up through the ranks to become a colonel. During the transitional government from 2003 to 2005, Kekula served as a deputy director for police administration. 

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.