International Peace Academy

Police Reform through

Community-Based Policing
Philosophy and Guidelines for Implementation

Hesta Groenewald and Gordon Peake

SEPTEMBER 2004 ■ NEW YORK

Acknowledgements
This report draws on discussions at a seminar jointly hosted by the International Peace Academy and
Saferworld on 22 and 23 March 2004 in New York on Community-Based Policing: Developing Security –
Securing Development?

The authors would like to thank Mark Baskin, Renata Dwan, Chris Gale, Adrian Horn, Neil Jarman, Otwin
Marenin, Graham Mathias, Andy McLean, Rachel Neild and Luc van de Goor for their valuable feedback on
an earlier draft of this paper. They would also like to thank Clara Lee, Francesco Mancini and Necla Tschirgi
for their editorial comments.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade (DFAIT) for the conference and the production of the workshop report. We would
also like to thank the Mission of Canada to the United Nations and the Mission of Luxembourg to the United
Nations for hosting the meetings.

The International Peace Academy’s Program on the Security-Development Nexus is funded by the
Rockefeller Foundation and the governments of Australia, Canada (DFAIT and CIDA), Germany, Luxembourg,
Norway, and the United Kingdom (DfID). This IPA program also greatly benefits from core support from the
governments of Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland as well as from the Ford Foundation and the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

About the Authors

Hesta Groenewald is a Program Officer at the Conflict Prevention Program, Saferworld, London. She has
worked extensively on community-based policing, conflict prevention and peacebuilding issues in Africa.

Gordon Peake is Program Associate on security sector reform at the International Peace Academy, New York.
He received his D.Phil from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, where he wrote on police establishment in Kosovo
and Palestinian territories. He has consulted for Saferworld and UNDP on policing issues in Albania, Kosovo,
and Indonesia.

Cover Photo: Passing Out Parade for Sierra Leone Police. Our thanks to Adrian Horn for kindly allowing us to reproduce this
picture.
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Contents

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. Community-Based Policing as a Model for Police Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

III. Community-Based Policing: More Than Just Law and Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

IV. Lessons Learned about the Difficulty of Police Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

V. Tales from the Field: Community-Based Policing in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

VI. Community-Based Policing: An Implementation Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A. Key Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B. Critical Success Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
C. The Implementation Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

VII. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Workshop Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Participants List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Contents
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Executive Summary and managed process to achieve it. Certain factors are
also critical to a successful community-based policing
engagement. A minimum degree of order is required as
Police reform is being increasingly recognized as a is a conducive context and political support from key
fundamental element of conflict management. A police actors within the country: government, police and civil
service supported by the community and capable of society. A shared understanding of goals among
arresting insecurity can have a far-reaching impact in international actors and co-ordination between them is
enabling lasting economic, social and political especially advantageous.
development. Police reform also can complement and
embolden other programming in the areas of security An implementation framework should include four
sector reform, rule of law and good governance. phases: pre-engagement analysis and assessment;
design and planning; managing the implementation;
Efforts to reform the police and improve their service and evaluation and drawback. In such a complex
delivery face daunting political, financial, logistical undertaking, a managed process of change is critical. A
and historical obstacles. Its very complexity can be successful implementation entails comprehensive and
intimidating, touching on issues of management, detailed strategic planning. Goals should be clearly
leadership, political will, attitudes, established defined, bear relation to context and a road map drawn
behaviors and negative public perceptions. to prudently achieve them. Plans should be flexible:
However, its centrality means that it cannot be shied ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the process will
away from. With police reform being undertaken by an ensure that plans respond to changing circumstances.
ever-widening range of actors, a clearer understanding Care should be taken not to do too much too soon but
of what police reform entails and how it should be incrementally build up the organizational capacity of
undertaken is essential. police and communities.

A community-based approach emphasizes both Design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and

reforming the police and refurbishing their public evaluation of the intended engagement should be as
image. Going beyond a narrow focus on crime, the wide and consultative as possible to ensure that the
philosophy proposes police and communities working police, government, and civil society feel meaningfully
together in partnership in order to address community involved. The program should establish benchworks for
concerns. When successfully executed, it can both progress. Helpful for ensuring donor funding, it
develop security and secure development. demonstrates what has been achieved and is a
measurement for deciding when a reform process can
Success is contingent upon a well-understood philos- continue without international involvement.
ophy, clearly thought out plan and a well organized

Executive Summary i
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

I. Introduction the police and improving their relations with estranged

communities.1

The police are the most visible institution of the No matter who the implementers are and at what stage
security sector and their reform is vital for lasting of the conflict cycle reform is undertaken, it has proven
human security. Without law enforcement and the difficult to effect a demonstrable change in either the
sense of workaday safety, security and order that the police or the public’s attitude towards them. The police
police can provide, the potential for wider political, face major problems building legitimacy in societies
social, and economic development dips dramatically. where a uniformed officer is more a cause for fear than
Developing a professional and accountable police a source of protection and comfort. Legacies of
service practising a new style of policing that is mistrust are difficult to overcome; a new culture of
responsive to the needs of local communities is trust and reliance is difficult to forge.
increasingly recognized as important for sound conflict
management. The police are equally important as Moreover, international reform efforts often lack a
emblems. A police that is seen to have changed its conceptual framework spelled out with clear strategies
character, making a break from repressive practices of and objectives. Unclear on basic precepts, international
the past and working in partnership with communities actors may find it difficult to convincingly explain the
from which it was historically removed, has profound merits of reform to the target police force, which may
symbolic resonance. already be apprehensive of — or even resistant to —
change. Reform may also be difficult to sell to a
The importance attached to police reform as an instru- reticent public that has an understandably jaundiced
ment of conflict management is evidenced by the rise in view of the police. When a confused conceptualization
organizations attempting to carry it out. Originally the of the reform effort is compounded further by the
preserve of UN peacekeepers, a large and diverse number absence of a clear operational plan, all too frequently
of international organizations, development banks, the result is a programmatic mess that bequeaths little.
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and, increas-
ingly, private companies have become involved. The The International Peace Academy, in partnership with
circumstances in which would-be reformers intervene the London-based NGO Saferworld, convened a two-
have expanded as well. Police reform originally took day workshop in New York in March 2004 to discuss
place in the aftermath of conflict, but it is increasingly and build on a document that seeks to provide such a
part of a broader conflict prevention strategy. conceptual framework for police reform. The
Philosophy and Principles of Community-Based
International support for police reform has ranged Policing is a document written by Saferworld that set
from assistance to programs initiated from within out to explain the basic philosophic tenets of police
countries such as South Africa, Malawi and Northern reform.2 Recently published, it has already served as a
Ireland, to more internationally initiated programs in guide for police reform projects in Albania and Kenya.
post-conflict contexts such as Kosovo and East Timor. Bringing together expert practitioners from within the
Around one quarter of field staff in UN peacekeeping UN system donor governments and independent
operations are now involved in some aspect of police experts, the workshop aimed to achieve a clearer
reform and current strategies for addressing the long- understanding of what community-based policing
term security of countries like Iraq, Sudan and entails and how it fits within a wider conflict manage-
Afghanistan include components of professionalizing ment strategy.
1 Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (Brahimi Report), 2000, paragraph 181.
2 Saferworld and the South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC), Philosophy and
Principles of Community-Based Policing, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Stability Pact for
South Eastern Europe, 2003. The authors of the report were Hesta Groenewald, David Kendrick, Graham Mathias, and Gordon Peake.
The publication was managed by the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Recovery/UNDP and the UNDP Albanian Country Office. The
report is available at: <http://www.saferworld.org.uk/policing/cbpbalkans.htm>.

Introduction 1
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The first day’s discussions explored the concept of

community-based policing as a mechanism for conflict Fundamental Principles of
management and evaluated the programming Community-Based Policing
approaches designed to operationalize it. It also
considered how a community-based approach to police 1. Policing by consent, not coercion.
reform fits in and complements wider conflict manage- 2. The police as part of the community, not
ment strategies. The second day’s deliberations sought apart from it.
to plot out a guide that would be useful to those tasked 3. The police and community working together
with implementation. This report summarizes the to find out what communities needs are.
discussions from the two-day workshop and proposes 4. The police, public and other agencies
a guide that will be useful for implementers based on working together in partnership.
the knowledge and experience of workshop partici- 5. Tailoring the business of policing to meet
pants. community needs.

II. Community-Based Policing as a The philosophy is built on the belief that the public
Model for Police Reform deserves an input into policing, and indeed, has a right
to it. It also rests on the view that in order to find
solutions to community problems, the police and the
Community-based policing is both a philosophy (a way public must move beyond a narrow focus on individual
of thinking) and an organizational strategy (a means to crimes or incidents, and instead consider innovative
carry out that philosophy) that allows the police and ways of addressing community concerns.
community to work together in new ways to solve
problems of crime, disorder and safety. It rests on two At the heart of community-based policing is the
core elements: changing the methods and practice of recognition that the police are much more than mere
the police and taking steps to establish a relationship crime fighters and can be public servants in other
between the police and the public. ways. The end goal is the creation of a professional,
representative, responsive, and accountable institution
that works in partnership with the public. These ‘peace
officers’ are a service rather than a force, and an
institution that only criminals need rightly fear.

Achieving these goals requires taking action at three

levels: individual, institutional, and societal.3 Even as
the values of service and competency are imparted at
the level of the individual officer, an appropriate
management structure, capable of embedding and
sustaining these values, must be created as well.
Reform to the police alone, however, is insufficient;
community support and assistance are also necessary
to achieving the basic goals of the police. Community-
based policing, therefore, also encompasses strategies
to reorient the public who, for frequently good reasons,
David Malone, President, International Peace Academy and H.E. Allan have been leery and distrustful of the police. Building
Rock, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations partnerships between the police and communities is a

3 L. Lindholt, P. De Mesquita Neto, D. Titus, and E. Alemika, Human Rights and the Police in Transitional Countries, (Leiden: Brill
Academic Pub, 2003), p. 22.

2 Community-Based Policing as a Model for Police Reform

 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

major challenge that confronts aspirant reformers, but

thus far, international reform efforts have given little
recognition to this challenge — not one of the
mandates for UN missions mentions engagement with
local communities as a reform priority.

The philosophy of community-based policing asks of

both the police and the public a leap of faith and a
commitment to effect change. It is a complex process
that requires contemporaneous action to be taken at
multiple levels meaning that detailed strategic
planning necessary to translate philosophy into
practice within the police organization and among the
public. A detailed plan has often proved lacking in
internationally inspired police reform plans however.
Beyond a rhetorical commitment to police reform there Graham Mathias, Senior Policing Advisor, Saferworld
has been little sense of how to operationalize a reform
process to achieve the changes sought. Greater synergy between the reform processes towards
the various institutions that make up the security
III. Community-Based Policing: sector would be beneficial.

More Than Just Law and Order Community-based policing, the rule of law, good
governance, and human rights
Policing is an activity that is not carried out in
isolation. All the disparate aspects of policing that To be effective police reform must link other criminal
individual officers are called upon — from issuing justice institutions. The entry point to the justice
parking tickets to thwarting crimes — impact and system and the part in closest contact with the public,
involve other institutions and processes. The workshop a fair, competent, non-discriminatory, and respectful
discussed how a community-based police reform police is integral to upholding the rule of law. Along
program fits in with, and can contribute significantly with courts and the correctional service, the police are
to advancing, a variety of security, social, and an essential part of the ‘triad’ of institutions needed to
developmental objectives and agendas. make a justice system run effectively.4 Experience
suggests that positive impacts to one of this triad of
Community-based policing and security sector institutions will be nullified without similar concentra-
reform tion on other institutions.

External actors pick and choose which parts of security Community-based policing, development, and
sector reform (SSR) they carry out without necessarily poverty reduction
seeing how these elements are linked and interrelated.
Although at a policy level, the police are considered an Community-based police reform can contribute to a
integral element of the security sector, this synergy wider poverty reduction strategy. Several donor
between the two is rare at the level of implementation. agencies and governments have recognized the links
For many donors, SSR remains a primarily military between security, development, and poverty
concern, deprioritizing policing. Policing is also reduction. High levels of crime stifle development in
sometimes in a different institutional ‘silo’, which any community — businesses become the victims of
presents an institutional barrier to actual coordination. crime, commercial activities (including those of the

4 R. Mani, Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War (London: Polity, 2002), pp.56-68.

Community-Based Policing: More Than Just Law and Order 3

 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

informal sector) are interrupted, and outside invest-

ment leaves.

The poor and marginalized also suffer disproportion-

ately from the effects of crime and violence. They lack
adequate protection from corrupt or dysfunctional
security institutions. The poor are also often marginal-
ized when it comes to political or social structures and
are likely to have very little influence over the policies
and programs that affect their daily lives.

Community-based policing, through its partnership

approach, aims to ensure that the safety and security
needs of all groups in a particular community are
addressed. In this way, the police can facilitate all
people’s access to justice, regardless of their social or Adrian Horn, Horn Ltd., speaking on Sierra Leone
economic status. Addressing local needs while
effectively combating crime improves safety and Variable quality and insufficient quantity of
security, and with it, strengthens the conditions for implementers
development to take place.
International police reformers are drawn from a range of
Community-based policing and stemming small- contributing countries and in the absence of an agreed
arms proliferation international approach, officers tend to import their own
particular style of policing. Often there is also a dramatic
Controlling the availability and circulation of small variance in experience, skills, and training among these
arms and light weapons (SALW) is vital in the effort to international police officers. Quality control remains a
increase community safety, the aim of community- problem as many missions have difficulty in finding
based policing. However, citizens will only be willing sufficient numbers of adequately trained personnel.
to hand over firearms in their possession if they
perceive an improvement in public safety and security Poor Coordination
and if they have a certain degree of trust in the police
and other security agencies. This is where community- There is still insufficient coordination between the
based policing can play an important role in strength- various implementing agencies that undertake police
ening SALW initiatives. Similarly, if there is a good reform. All too often, those involved in programming
working relationship between the police and the in one organization are unaware of what counterparts
community, it will be easier for the police to obtain in other organizations are doing. Donors are often very
information about arms caches or transit routes for focused on their own programs and methodologies,
arms trafficking. which can complicate or even aggravate the already
insecure environment in which the engagement is
taking place. This absence of coordinated planning
IV. Lessons Learned about the results in poorly designed programming, programming
that does not fit with other initiatives or risks
Difficulty of Police Reform replicating what has been tried already.

Police reform is a challenging task. Participants Insufficient strategic planning

discussed the problems that have often afflicted, and
retarded the effectiveness and sustainability of police Many police reform initiatives lack a sequenced
reform initiatives. approach that maps out objectives and the steps

4 Lessons Learned about the Difficulty of Police Reform

 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

needed to achieve them. For instance, in Kosovo, five

years after the arrival of international civilian police
and one year before responsibility is to be transferred
to a local police force, there is still no strategic plan
outlining how that transition should occur. Given that
police reform is a multi-part and multi-faceted
process, which some estimate can take as long as a
generation, the change process must be sequenced.
Setting clear benchmarks serves as a means of
demonstrating progress to both police and communi-
ties. Identifiable change is also important to ensure
continuing support from donors, whose short-term
funding cycles are not ideally suited to such a long
process.

Poor storage of knowledge and little ‘lessons Kiran Bedi, Civilian Police Adviser, UN Department of Peacekeeping
Operations
learning’
values that reformers are trying to promote and the
The manner in which reform processes are structured — levels of funding provided to effect this change. Police
with the limited tenures of personnel and reliance on reform does not come cheap and funding is often
consultants whose contracts may be as short as a few insufficient to meet the expectations that accompany
weeks — militates against exploring and embedding it. Donor interest tends to wane before sufficient time
learning. Not enough information is publicly available has passed to produce tangible results. Without a
or easily accessible about the experiences of different longer-term commitment, the aims of police reform
actors (both institutions and individuals) in based on a community-based policing approach
implementing community-based policing and the cannot be achieved, and international support to
lessons learned from these experiences. unstable areas will remain nothing more than short-
term fire fighting.
Too little evaluation
Institutional resistance
There remains limited knowledge about what works and
what does not in community-based policing. Evaluation The operational culture of a police force must be
has yet to be adequately mainstreamed into program addressed; police are often characterized as resistant
design and certain challenges of evaluation remain — for to change and distrustful of outsiders. Because police
instance, on the most appropriate and realistic reform may require officers to do more work or may
benchmarks and indicators for measuring progress. In interfere with comfortable work practices, officers
addition, international organizations remain reluctant to may have a vested interest in resisting change.
allow detailed evaluations — valuable learning opportu- Changes in philosophy and approach will be difficult
nities for both international and host country actors — to infuse throughout an organization where there is
often out of sensitivity to how negative outcomes will be reluctance at the level of the individual. It may be a
perceived by fellow organizations. This desire to protect struggle for police to reorient themselves away from
institutional reputations means that valuable learning what they know and to embrace new attitudes: while
opportunities for both international and host country some forces will be amenable to change, others will
actors can be lost. not. The manner in which international reformers try
to confront this resistance was critiqued. For
Inadequate funding example, reports concerning police reform are too
often written in a style that is not likely to be read
There is a profound disconnect between the goals and by street cops.

Lessons Learned about the Difficulty of Police Reform 5

 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

areas of the country were not being policed at all. Like

many other national institutions, the Sierra Leonean
police (SLP) had atrophied beyond easy repair. Neglect
by successive governments had hollowed out the force,
many police buildings were destroyed, and officers
were without the most basic equipment such as pens
and paper. Many had not been trained in years and
were unknowledgeable about even the basics of their
profession. Moreover, the historic use of the SLP as a
repressive arm of the state and their institutionalized
corruption had led to public mistrust.

Working to restore this corroded trust was the primary

objective of the reformers. The implementation plan
emphasized community-based principles and stressed a
Human Rights Training in Sierra Leone sequence of changes at the individual, institutional,
and societal levels.
V. Tales from the Field:
At the level of the individual, officers were provided
Community-Based Policing in with training that focused on improving their
Practice competences in ‘local needs’ issues, including victim
support, domestic violence, and crime prevention.
Training focused not only on new recruits but also on
Three cases, Sierra Leone, Serbia, and Northern Ireland, those existing officers whose skills had grown rusty or
illustrate the holistic community-based approach to who had never been trained at all.
police reform and the different pace, scope, and
outcomes of each project. Although still too early to The organization was extensively restructured in order
definitively evaluate, Sierra Leone, the least likely to embed a ‘community-based’ philosophy. Opaque
place for success, was paradoxically where the most and confused management structures were made more
gains appear to have been made. transparent, and promotion and recruitment within the
force was based on standardized merit-based
Sierra Leone procedures rather than cronyism. A new system of
financial management was put in place in an effort to
By the late 1990s, Sierra Leone appeared thoroughly stamp out corruption. Officers were also made more
unconducive for police reform.5 Six years later, accountable as a result of new procedures through
independent evaluations record significant progress which the public could record their complaints.
including improvements in police behavior, standards,
and accountability. Securing and harnessing political The force made a concerted effort to reach out to
commitment, having an end goal, and creating and communities that had long been alienated from the
adhering to a strategic plan to achieve this were police. The process began with raising awareness about
presented as crucial factors in enabling the success so people’s rights, the role of the police, and the methods
far. the police can use to support community safety and
security. Special concentration was placed on the
The British Commonwealth team that arrived to lead particularly vulnerable and those who had dispropor-
the reform effort found the police in an abysmal state tionately suffered during the civil war such as women
and no match for the challenges in their midst. Many and children.

5 This section draws from a report prepared for the workshop by Mr. Adrian Horn.

6 Tales from the Field: Community-Based Policing in Practice

 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Among the institutions created to involve the public coupled with a program of modern police training
was a civil society forum that gave communities a courses have contributed in a positive manner towards
voice in local policing, a role in crime prevention, and regaining the trust of the Serbian people.
a means of monitoring the police.
Significant challenges, however, remain ahead for the
National political will was crucial to overcoming police reform process in Serbia. The lack of developed
institutional resistance to change. No matter how well structures for police accountability has obstructed
endowed financially, international interventions would progress towards a truly transparent police service,
quickly wither without it. The reform process was while a burgeoning administration coupled with the
conditional on continuing government support. absence of an adequate financial management system
continues to undermine the effective use of resources.
Serbia A highly centralized management structure hampers
the implementation of community-based policing on
The process of embedding a new, holistic, community- the ground, while outdated management procedures
based approach to policing in Serbia has faced a and the lack of transparent promotion procedures stifle
number of challenges, not least the need for institu- the belief that the police service is a viable career
tional level reforms. 6 While the Serbian police of 2004 option for talent recruits. The absence of a clear
are distinctly different from the force used as a political division between the political and operational aspects
tool during the Milosevic administration, it has yet to of the police leaves it potentially open for manipula-
realize the goals set by the country’s Ministry of tion. Further legislative and procedural changes are
Interior that of a truly modern, representative, and required for the implementation of community-based
democratic police service. With the assistance of the policing. Legislative changes to date have largely
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe focused on upgrading a legislative framework that was
(OSCE), important changes have been made in based upon an outdated system, rather than
improving individual capacity and individual integrity overhauling the system entirely.
through specialized training programs. However, the
absence of a concomitant focus on institutional The international community also has a significant role
capacity (as was the case in Sierra Leone) has meant to play; donor coordination and alignment can and
that the potential impact of progress made on must be done better. The need to have an agreed
developing the individual capacity of officers was framework for donor engagement — which in some
limited due to the lack of sufficient management and ways requires donors to cede some sovereignty to a
institutional structures, or the absence of a developed common goal — is essential if the international
legal/procedural framework to support such changes community is to have a positive effect on the reform
(such as in the areas of strategic planning, resource process.
management, and operational procedures). The result
was the de-motivation of officers engaged in the Northern Ireland
overall reform process and those who were taught new
techniques but could not utilize them. The example of Northern Ireland underscores the
difficulty of reorienting public attitudes towards the
Progress has been made over the past number of years police and of getting the public involved to the extent
with the introduction of more female police officers that the community-based policing philosophy
and the development of multi-ethnic policing in South expected and its reform architects desired.
Serbia, aimed at enhancing the representative nature
and community focus of the service. The introduction Reform to the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a central
of a number of specific community-policing pilot sites element of the province’s 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

6 This section draws from a paper prepared for the workshop by Dr. Mark Downes, “From Securing the Peace to Ensuring Stability
Police Reform in a Multi-ethnic, Post-conflict and Transition Environment: The Experience of Serbia.”

Tales from the Field: Community-Based Policing in Practice 7

 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Following the recommendations of an expert panel set

up under the agreement, the force was to be changed
into a more neutral Police Service of Northern Ireland,
and a target of equal representation of both Catholic
and Protestant communities in police ranks was set. The
new force was formally inaugurated in April 2002.

Extensive community involvement was envisaged in

oversight and decision-making processes, a central
demand of Catholic parties who historically have been
underrepresented. New forums were created. The
Northern Ireland Policing Board, a local board of elected
politicians and independents, has extensive oversight
powers. At a lower level, twenty-six District Policing
Partnerships (DPP), also drawn from politicians and civil
society representatives, have local oversight powers and
a major role in setting local policing priorities. Police outreach in Kenya

Saferworld and Community-Based Policing in Kenya

The Kenyan government has embarked on an ambitious program of community-based police reform, in
partnership with Saferworld and local civil society organizations including the Security Research and
Information Centre and PeaceNet.

The program is developing a national policy on community-based policing that provides common guidelines
to the police and local communities. This is complemented by the development of strategic plans for the two
police forces in Kenya, the Kenya Police and the Administration Police, to clarify their roles and put the
improved delivery of services at the heart of their work.

Also, a new training curriculum in community-based policing has been developed to train senior police
officers, new recruits, and community leaders. This work is accompanied by media outreach and public
education to raise awareness of the reform program and encourage the population to work with the police.

The government has implemented community-based policing in two selected pilot sites, one urban and one
rural. Community policing forums have been established, bringing together police officers and community
leaders to develop joint crime prevention and victim support strategies. The police are reporting a significant
drop in crime at these sites since the program began and the government is now keen to roll out this approach
across the country.

The reform process still faces significant challenges but these encouraging developments provide a good basis
for progress. A number of lessons have been learned: 1) Successful reforms need significant ownership and
support within government. The advent of a new government committed to reform and the establishment of
a high-level body within the government to provide political support and oversight have created an enabling
environment for progress. 2) There are clear benefits in developing a comprehensive program that can take
forward different initiatives (e.g., training and policy development) simultaneously. 3) It is crucial to establish
a partnership between the host government, international, and local civil society organizations to support
implementation.

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While all the institutions are in place, they have yet to whether certain aspects of policing will need more
fulfill their potential. In part this is because they lack emphasis (e.g. corruption or human rights abuse).
political support. Policing remains a deeply divisive The framework begins by identifying eight key princi-
issue and attitudes reinforced over generations have ples that should guide engagement and follows with a
been slow to break down. It has proven difficult to series of ‘critical success factors’, the presence or
attain Catholic support; levels of recruitment from that partial presence of which significantly enhances the
community remain low. Sinn Fein, the largest Catholic chances of success.
party and second largest political party in the province,
has still not agreed to support the reform process, The implementation framework is then broken down
thinking that it has not gone far enough and has into four phases: pre-engagement analysis and assess-
refused to take seats on any of the accountability and ment; planning; managing the implementation; and
oversight boards. This has meant that its voice has not evaluation and draw back.
been part of the day-to-day debate over the implemen-
tation of reforms. Involvement is also potentially A. Key Principles
personally hazardous – members of the DPPs have
been physically attacked and intimidated. Another A number of key principles apply throughout all the
problem still is sheer public disinterest. A core tenet of stages of the engagement:
a community-based approach is public involvement
and interest but this seems to have been hard to 1. The role of international actors is to support
engage. Although extensively advertised, meetings to and facilitate the reform process but not lead
involve the community take place in empty rooms. and dominate it. As many local stakeholders
Instead of public support and involvement, apathy and as practicably possible need to be involved
skepticism characterize community-based policing in throughout the planning, implementation,
Northern Ireland. monitoring and evaluation processes.

VI. Community-Based Policing: An 2. The framework must be tailored to context.

This requires a flexible, transparent and
Implementation Framework consultative approach throughout the reform
process.
Given police reform’s growing significance as part of a
conflict management strategy, and given the diffusion 3. Sufficient attention must be paid to both
of organizations carrying out reform, the need for a sides of community-based policing, the
framework around which reform can be structured is police and the public. A process that
crucial. The first day’s deliberations suggested that a emphasizes one over the other will be lopsided.
framework for police reform was still missing; the
second day’s deliberations aimed to provide guidance 4. There must be a common understanding
on how, when, and with whom to implement a between involved international agencies and
community-based policing program. the host government. If this is not done
explicitly from the start it risks incoherence,
Participants developed an implementation framework overlap and confusion.
that emphasizes management, context-applicability,
and planning. The planning process needs to recognize 5. The involvement of different levels of police
the specific characteristics of the context in personnel (not only upper management) in
implementing community-based policing. Context will all stages of the process is crucial for sustain-
shape the timing and length of the engagement, the ability.
most appropriate entry points (e.g. whether work
should start on developing a national policy, 6. Community-based police reform should not
implementation of local pilot projects, or both) and take place in isolation but as part of the

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 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

broader criminal justice system reform. This measures to increase police accountability to
means including key actors from other the public.
criminal justice institutions in consultations
and assessments as well as seeking synergies Such actions and commitment can be substan-
with other initiatives. tiated by other knowledgeable actors in
country, including international diplomats,
7. The program needs to be realistic and local parliamentarians, and international and
feasible with resources to match. local civil society organizations, and reports of
national and international human rights
8. Capacity-building is central — progress must organizations.
be sustainable when international support
ends. 3. Basic management skills within the police

B. Critical Success Factors Basic management capacity is necessary in

order to undertake a reform process. If
The more strongly present these factors are, the better management skills are lacking, this can be
the environment for undertaking community-based emphasized as capacity-building priority.
policing.
4. Civil society involvement
1. Minimum degree of order in the country
Community-based policing can only be
A minimum degree of order that is likely to effectively implemented if the police can
hold in the short to medium term is essential to engage with some form of public or civil
provide some space for undertaking police counterpart. Some form of civil society
reform. It is imperative that the international capacity is required to engage on safety and
presence be nimble enough to respond to such security issues with the police. They should be
opportunities by having the necessary ensured political space to be able to do this.
equipment and logistics in place for mobilizing
quickly and working in these environments. 5. Donor support and coordination

2. A conducive context and demonstrated Preparedness among donors to coordinate

political will to change their programs, strategies, and activities in a
mutually supportive manner is critical. The
There needs to be some national political commitment of donors to stay the course of
support for a police reform process among the reform process in the medium to long term
leaders within the ranks of both government and to provide sufficient resources is
and police. This can be evidenced by willing- important in order to avoid creating expecta-
ness at senior levels within the police tions that cannot be met.
initially, but also at middle management and
lower levels. This commitment to improve C. The Implementation Framework
police-community relations can be measured
by willingness on the part of government Phase 1: Pre-engagement analysis and assessment
and figures in the police echelon to take
action on tough (and symbolically powerful) A thorough contextual analysis and a needs and
issues such as corruption, human rights resources assessment are crucial to inform nuanced
abuses, and excessive use of force within the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and
police force; the allocation of resources in evaluation of the intended engagement. The assess-
order to back a reform process; and taking ment process should be as wide and consultative as

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possible in order to ensure that the police, government, to ensure that positive impacts are maximized and
and civil society feel meaningfully involved. It is vital negative ones minimized. The assessment should
that the assessment not be rushed and that the team include:
does not arrive with pre-ordained assumptions of what
the needs and priorities are. – The social, economic and political issues — both
structural and tied to specific events and actors —
Going beyond narrow considerations of the police and that could give (in transition societies) or have
crime, the analysis should probe the broader social, given (in post-conflict societies) rise to violent
economic, and political situation within which the conflict;
police and communities interrelate. Those carrying out – The impact conflict had on the structure, make-up,
the assessment should have a broad range of skills: as and methods of the police organization itself;
well as those with police experience, assessors should – The ways these broader conflict causes are being
have sociological, legal, historical, and anthropolog- addressed.
ical knowledge of the society at hand. Because the
eventual program must be financially realistic, it is 1.2. Crime trends analysis
crucial that those with a finance background be
involved as well. The crime problems of the country and their social and
economic costs should be established, based on a range
The assessments and analyses should also consider of available data. Combined with and verified against
the gender dimensions of policing and issues relating other assessments and analyses, this information
to women’s access to safety, security, and justice. This measures perceptions of crime and insecurity, and can
is particularly important as customary law and also serve as a baseline indicator by which changes in
religious practices often govern certain issues that crime/criminal trends can be measured over the course
greatly affect women’s lives and status. This includes of the reform period.
such matters as property ownership; marriage and
divorce matters, including the status of widows and Qualitative as well as quantitative indicators should
children, child custody, legitimacy, and adoptions; be used because crime statistics may not exist and are
and interstate succession and administration of likely to be unreliable when they do. Moreover, these
interstate estates. Women’s access to justice should statistics are rarely an accurate representation of real
include their own families and traditional structures levels of crime as they involve reporting crime to the
in the areas in which they live, as well as the police, police, which many in deeply divided societies are
court personnel, magistrates, and district administra- loath to do. Other tools, therefore, should be used as
tion personnel.7 well, such as public perception surveys, media
reports, and incident descriptions, in order to come up
The assessment should ideally comprise nine features: with a comprehensive sense of the problems affecting
the public. The analysis of crime trends should
1.1. Risk and conflict analysis provide:

The broader social, economic, and political situation in – The major problems of crime and their sources;
the country provides the context for understanding the – A breakdown into regional, rural, and urban
causes of insecurity and crime and offers, in part, an specificities;
explanation for the methods and practices of the – An assessment of particular problems relating to
police. As the envisaged engagement will impact on specific groups of society (e.g., women or specific
the society as a whole, some thinking needs to be done religious or ethnic groups);

7 “Overview of the Gendered Dynamics in Accessing Justice in WLSA Countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe),” paper presented by Sara Mvududu, Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), Research and
Educational Trust, to the seminar on “Making Justic Democratic,” London, June 26-28, 2001.

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– The role of the police and other structures (e.g., 1.5. Review of legal and constitutional framework
traditional justice structures, the judiciary) in
addressing safety and security problems; The legal, constitutional, and regulatory framework in
– The root of these problems, whether they are which the police operate should be reviewed. An
purely crime-related, purely conflict-related or a enabling legal and constitutional framework will facili-
mixture; tate the reform process; the review will help assess
– An assessment of the economic and social costs of what ancillary constitutional and legislative reform
crime. may be needed to support the undertaking of
community-based policing. The review should include:
1.3. Assessment of the police organization
– Relevant acts, codes, and statutes that legally
It is important to establish the extant organizational govern police behavior;
strengths and weaknesses of the police and to assess – Regional or international frameworks and conven-
the police’s capacity to absorb change. Part of this tions (e.g., human rights conventions) that relate to
assessment can include a survey of the police policing, safety, and security;
personnel themselves (at all levels of the organization) – Constitutional definition of the role of the police;
and their perceptions of their organization, their – Legislative changes needed to undertake
management, and their role. The assessment should: community-based policing.

– Map the structures, resources, mandates, and 1.6. Evaluation of relationship between police and the
capacity of the existing police service/organization broader criminal justice and security sectors
and its relations with political institutions;
– Assess the formal and informal cultures and The police are the most visible institution of the
attitudes within the police organization; security sector as well as a central element of the
– Evaluate the police’s financial resources and how criminal justice system. It is therefore important to
they are managed; recognize this role and the linkages between the police
– Consider the level of corruption and reasons for it; and other institutions in this sector by evaluating:
– Appraise the police’s internal communication
system. – The state of the broader criminal justice sector —
the courts and penal system—and its relationship
1.4. Baseline survey of perceptions of policing with the police;
– The relationship between the police and other
Both the police and the public should be canvassed to security sector institutions, e.g., the military and
determine what their perceptions are of key safety and intelligence services;
security issues, and what the police can and should be – The relationship between the police and other
doing to address these. The survey of perceptions sectors within the broader criminal justice system
should measure: and/or security systems that need to be engaged to
complement community-based police reform.
– Problems with the country’s policing (e.g., corrup-
tion, involvement in organized crime, lack of 1.7. Review of existing social and governance
public trust, undefined division of roles between structures that pertain to safety and security
the police and the military);
– Treatment of all members of society by the police; Strong informal mechanisms exist in many societies for
– Police’s perceived priorities; dealing with public safety and security. In such
– Public perception of police’s priorities; societies, official police structures are largely divorced
– Public expectations of the police; from the public. Using or revitalizing existing structures
– Nature of the relationship between the police and is often preferable and more sustainable as a means of
the public. nurturing trust between police and community than

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setting up brand new structures. It is critical to have an financially unsustainable. An accurate assessment of
understanding of what these mechanisms are and to the financial needs and absorptive capacity of the local
determine their levels of legitimacy and their contribu- government and police organization is therefore crucial
tions — both positive and negative — to safety and to inform realistic decisions on resource allocation and
security. The mapping process should include: budgeting. The efficient, effective, and economic use of
already existing national resources should be encour-
– Structures that attempt to deal with public safety aged so as not to overwhelm the government and the
and security and conflict resolution (including police with resources that they do not have the capacity
both legitimate and problematic structures, e.g., to manage or to sustain in the longer term. Key points
traditional structures like village elders; vigilante of the financial assessment include:
groups; neighborhood watches; private security
companies etc.); – The level of international financial assistance;
– The degree to which informal mechanisms are – Current absorptive capacity of the host govern-
incorporated into the legal framework of the ment and police force;
country, their legitimacy/support and level of – Priorities in the use of resources;
influence/impact; – Local resources that can be mobilized together
– The extent of contact/cooperation between with international resources;
informal and formal, state-funded structures for – Additional financial resources necessary to
public safety and security (i.e., police, justice undertake community-based policing reform.
system, etc.);
– The opportunities and challenges of incorporating Phase 2: Program Design and Planning
the appropriate existing structures into a broader
program of implementing community-based The planning and design phase should build on the
policing. previous assessments and analysis in order to formulate
program strategies and priorities. Phase 2 should also
1.8. Stakeholder and leadership analysis continue the consultative approach with local authori-
ties reflected in the previous phase. Donors/interna-
In order for any reform process to be sustainable, the tional actors and the government must reach a clear
involvement and constructive support of local agreement on the exact nature of the program and the
stakeholders and leaders is paramount. Reform actors roles and responsibilities of each. Equally, all involved
must have a clear sense of who the key figures are need to be clear on the characteristics and principles of
within the police, the government, and civil society (on community-based policing, while remaining flexible
national, regional, district, city, etc., levels), including: about adapting it to the context as needed. During the
planning phase, the middle and lower ranks of police
– The key stakeholders in undertaking community- personnel — not only the higher members in the
based policing (including the police, community hierarchy — should be included, as they will be chiefly
structures, civil society in its broadest form, parlia- charged with implementing the reform. It is important
mentarians, the private sector, the government, to be realistic about the achievable degree of interaction
etc.); between the police and the public, as well as their
– The key stakeholders who are in favor of reform ability to absorb and implement change.
(change agents);
– The key stakeholders who oppose reform (spoilers) There should be five features to the planning phase.
and how they can be brought on board.
2.1. Defining priorities of the engagement
1.9. Financial assessment and viability
The definition of priorities of the engagement should
It serves no one to design a reform program that is include:

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 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

– Key safety and security challenges that emerged 2.4. Setting benchmarks and/or indicators for
from the assessment and analysis phase; monitoring and evaluation
– Particular areas of focus, such as specific safety
and security problems relating to a particular Benchmarks and/or indicators to monitor the implemen-
region or social group; tation should be developed. They should be realistic,
– Policing priorities as defined by the communi- simple, and least expensive, and it is key that they are
ties/public and the police. used by the oversight mechanisms and structures that
will be set up. Mid-term reviews and monitoring
2.2. Setting objectives of the intervention processes should be built into the overall monitoring
and evaluation process to enable revision of the reform
Once the priorities have been identified, the specific as it is implemented. The indicators should comprise:
objectives of the intervention need to be formulated.
These should be realistic and specific: what can be – A checklist of balanced baskets of qualitative and
done, within what timeframe, by whom, and with quantitative indicators to measure progress;
whose resources. – Indicators sensitive to the changes that one wishes
to measure;
The objectives should include the following envisaged – Indicators that accommodate the monitoring of
changes in: relatively powerless groups’ experiences, such as
those of people living in poverty.
– Policing style and efficiency;
– The role of communities and their capacity to 2.5. Creating conflict resolution mechanisms
participate in community-based policing;
– The structure of the police organization itself; A key tenet of community-based policing is that the
– The relationship between the police and the public; police should be able to solve disputes or conflicts in
– Police accountability; partnership with the communities in which they work. In
– Relationships between the police and the broader addition, where appropriate, they should collaborate with
criminal justice system. existing structures that deal with the peaceful resolution
of disputes or conflicts within different communities.
2.3. Having financially sound action plans However, reform actors must be realistic about the level
of trust in communities towards the police and the time
The action plans are intended to translate the priorities that it will take to create this trust. The conflict/dispute
and objectives into specific activities, sequencing these mechanisms should therefore include:
activities and assigning responsibilities for the
execution of specific tasks to specific actors. The – Mechanisms or structures that enable the police to
objectives and action plans can only be implemented if conduct collaborative problem-solving and
sufficient resources are available and are managed dispute/conflict resolution with the communities
efficiently. The action plans and budget need to include: where they work;
– Linkages between these mechanisms and other
– Specific activities to be undertaken to fulfill each appropriate structures, such as traditional conflict
of the objectives; resolution forums;
– Names of specific people responsible for each – Review of the effectiveness of these mechanisms in
activity; bringing about change, and their real and
– Costs and human resources needs; perceived impact on peace and security in the
– Timelines; community.
– Sources of funding (international and local
sources); Phase 3: Managing the Implementation
– Management responsibility and oversight
structures for the budget. During the implementation, it is important to carefully

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monitor progress, ensure ongoing oversight, and committee structures, province/district structures).
remain clear on end goals. The implementation should
also seek to strengthen and broaden the involvement 3.4. Training and enhancement of police and commu-
of all stakeholders in the process. Important features nity capacity
for the implementation phase can include:
In order to make the reform process sustainable, the
3.1. Pilot activities capacity of local communities and police to undertake
(and sustain) community-based policing must be
Pilot activities or programs can be very useful, but they strengthened. To this end, it is vital to develop the
should be realistic and replicable elsewhere. Pilot areas capacity of local training institutions for the police and
or projects offer the opportunity to test approaches and the community, and to identify individuals within both
readjust if necessary, and if successful, can greatly groups who already have useful skills.
enhance buy-in to the reform process.
Within the police it is crucial to:
3.2. National and local oversight and review structures
– Train in community-based policing, preferably
National and local oversight structures should be through existing education structures and
established in order to direct the implementation of the programs;
reform and monitor the use of resources. Where – Provide follow-up training after training courses;
existing structures have been identified, these should – Strengthen police capacity to respect and uphold
be reviewed and used as appropriate. These oversight human rights;
structures should include mechanisms: – Enhance police capacity to gather, manage, and
use information appropriately and effectively;
– With real and not just symbolic power and the – Provide mentoring by using senior national and/or
authority to address problems; international police officers for field training.
– With clear roles and division of responsibilities;
– With civilian participation in conducting oversight Within civil society/community it is crucial to:
activities.
– Raise awareness about community-based policing
3.3. Accountability structures and the public’s roles and responsibilities with
regards to safety and security;
One of the key objectives of community-based policing – Raise awareness of people’s legal and human rights
is to foster a trusting relationship between the police and responsibilities;
and the public. Prioritize accountability: winning the – Train, if required, in basic organizational skills.
trust of local communities requires not only a profes-
sional and effective police service, but also clear police 3.5. Strong local capacity to lead and manage the
accountability to the public. Accountability structures change program
should include:
Capacity-building in community-based policing must
– Structures that hold the police accountable to the be complemented by capacity-building for host country
government, parliament, and the public; stakeholders (police, government, and civil society) in
– Direct communication mechanisms with the public implementing, leading, and managing the change
(e.g., hotlines, anonymous complaints service); process. This is an ongoing process throughout the
– Easy public accessibility to complaints procedures implementation of the reform program and includes:
and mechanisms;
– Internal review boards; – Strengthening the skills of host country police and
– Education programs for legislators on their role in communities to design and implement the change
exercising accountability (e.g., parliamentary program;

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– Supporting relevant stakeholders in redesigning early on in the reform process that demonstrates the
and adapting the change program as necessary; direction in which reform is going. Quick wins
– Involving key police personnel to accompany demonstrate success, encourage buy-in, and provide
external/international consultants in order to share building blocks for further changes and reforms. Quick
experiences and knowledge; wins need to lead to real and clearly visible changes
– Ensuring civil society actors have a central part in to promote further confidence building on all sides of
this process. the reform process. These changes can range, for
instance, from taking disciplinary measures against
3.6. Adequate resources for the reform process senior police officials involved in corruption to
commencing work on ‘model police stations’. Their
Sufficient financial resources must be secured to sustain establishment can help demonstrate the positive
the reform process, and this should translate into the impacts that can be wrought by applying a
necessary budget allocations within the normal policing community-based approach to policing, thus encour-
budget. The length of the reform process can vary; aging wider support for the approach as a whole. It is
international actors supporting it should aim to essential that innovations tested in the model stations
establish funding sustainability for as long as possible. are diffused to police in other areas.
So that the reform process will not be solely dependent
on international resources, the use of recipient country 3.9. Mechanisms and processes for monitoring
resources needs to be maximized. Securing sufficient
resources for a sustainable reform process involves: The monitoring mechanisms and process should take
into account other national priorities that have been
– Mechanisms for the long-term sustainability of the identified elsewhere (for instance, in the framework of
process after international withdrawal; the World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategies
– International logistical support, based on an Monitoring). The process should include:
identification of real needs and priorities;
– Decentralizing funding as much as possible in – Benchmarks and indicators defined in the planning
order to ensure that the reform process continues phase;
on a variety of levels. – A review of activities and strategies implemented,
identifying good and bad practices;
3.7. Appropriate organizational structure – Mechanisms to publicize achievements and
successes in order to generate more support for the
The reform process should ensure that the police change process;
organization has the optimal structure for the – Continuous update of the risk and conflict analyses
implementation of the envisaged style of policing. To in order to monitor the context, its impact on the
achieve this aim, an appropriate organizational engagement, and the impact of the engagement on
structure should include: the context;
– Ownership of local civil society groups in
– Necessary authority to local police personnel to maintaining monitoring, with support from the
engage with the community; international community.
– Clear role and mandate; – Publicizing achievements and successes in order to
– Rewards and sanctions for encouraging police generate more support for the change process.
personnel to undertake community-based policing
in their day-to-day work; 3.10. Programs that build resistance to corruption
– Management skills.
A police untainted by corruption is a powerful symbol
3.8. Quick wins of change and a major building block in public trust.
However, strengthening resistance to corruption is a
The concept of quick wins refers to positive changes difficult process that requires a serious commitment

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within the government and the police. It is important If clear qualitative and quantitative indicators and
for reformers to be realistic. Corruption may be a benchmarks identified in the pre-engagement phase
broader social issue of economic survival, and/or may have been built into the program design and there has
be accepted as the norm in a particular society; either been ongoing monitoring of the short, medium and
factor would make it extremely difficult to eradicate in long term outputs and outcomes, one should have a
the police only. An effective anti-corruption strategy clear sense of when it is appropriate to draw back. A
should comprise: full involvement and utilization of local perspectives
throughout will enable a broader range of perspectives,
– Good management, supervision, and control; give more legitimacy to the results of evaluation, and
– A robust anti-corruption policy; provide a learning opportunity for local stakeholders
– Fair and transparent disciplinary policies and taking forward the work. It is important that the
procedures; engagement be financially audited. This should
– Support for senior officers who have the necessary evaluate the allocation of resources within the police
ability and personal qualities to lead an anti- and from international support.
corruption unit effectively;
– Complaints mechanisms. The medium- to long-term impact of the change
program should be assessed. It should measure the
3.11. Internal and external communication impact of the community-based policing program on
safety, security, and development, and the impact of
Throughout the implementation process, both internal the reform on the pre-existing risks and root causes of
communication and external communication with the conflict in the communities.
public need to be strengthened in order to make policing
more transparent and accountable. Effective external The police must be able to maintain processes of
communication can go some way towards fostering monitoring their own performance and learning from
trust in the police. In spite of a common reluctance to their mistakes so that these processes can continue once
involve the media, for fear that only failures will be international support winds down. It is important to
reported, the police should engage actively with the strengthen the capacity of the oversight and review
media, which can be used as a strategic partner in the structures established during the implementation phase.
police’s external communication strategy. The police
should also receive media training, while journalists The international drawback must not be final, instead
should be provided with training on policing issues. scheduling regular periodic reviews to ensure that the
process of community-based policing is continuing in
Phase 4: Evaluation and Drawback an appropriate manner. This would also avoid the
perception that international actors have ‘forgotten’
The end-goal of a community-based policing program the reform process that they began. Assessment will
is a sustainable reform process that can proceed also be important as a means of ensuring continuing
without the training wheels of international involve- donor support for the process.
ment. To achieve this, the implementation plan should
be carefully structured so that more and more Finally, it is crucial that the lessons learned from the
authority is incrementally handed over to local actors engagement are disseminated to inform the design of
while the international implementation role future engagements. A thorough review process that
correspondingly reduces. This would help avoid the involves all stakeholders in reviewing the community-
tendency that afflicts many police reform initiatives based policing program can yield important lessons
when international actors either leave too quickly or about what worked and what hadn’t. Furthermore,
devolve responsibility too slowly. such lessons or experiences must be fed into follow-up
community-based policing work in the country, as well
A detailed evaluation should assess whether the as in the practice of the international actors supporting
program has achieved its strategic goals and objectives. the process.

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VII. Conclusion Nonetheless, its centrality means that it is an issue that

cannot be shied away from. The workshop underscored
Community-based policing can be cement for security how efforts to provide equal focus on reforming both
and development. A police force supported by the the police as an institution and their relationship with
community and capable of arresting insecurity can the communities they are meant to serve are contin-
have a far-reaching impact in enabling lasting gent upon a well-understood philosophy, clearly
economic, social and political development. However, thought out plan and a well organized and managed
as international efforts so far have indicated, process of implementation.
reforming a police organization, re-orienting their
shoddy public image, and improving their service With police reform being undertaken by an ever-
delivery means facing daunting political, financial, widening range of actors, it is paramount that there
logistical and historical obstacles. Achieving lasting should be a clear understanding of what it entails and
and effective reform requires addressing issues of how it should be undertaken. It is hoped that this guide
management, leadership, political will, set attitudes, will be useful in both situating community-based police
established behaviors and negative public percep- reform within broader policy debates and guiding those
tions. Its very complexity can be intimidating. planning its implementation.

18 Conclusion
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Community-Based Policing:
Developing Security – Securing Development?
Workshop Agenda

9:00-9:30 Breakfast

9:30-9:45 Welcome Addresses

David M. Malone, President, International Peace Academy

H.E. Allan Rock, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations

SESSION I COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: U NDERLYING CONCEPTS AND CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION

9:45-10:45 Introduction and Overview

Dr. Gordon Peake, Associate, International Peace Academy

Presentation of “Philosophy and Principles of Community-based Policing”

Mr. Graham Mathias, Senior Policing Advisor, Saferworld

10:45-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:15 Implementing Community-based Policing (I) – Policing and Civil Society Perspectives
(Chair: Gordon Peake)

Malawi Mr. Undule Mwakasungula, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation

Sierra Leone Mr. Adrian Horn, Horn Ltd.

Serbia and Montenegro Dr. Mark Downes, Law Enforcement Department,

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

12:15-1:15 Lunch

1:15- 2:45 Implementing Community-based Policing (II) – Donor and UN Perspectives

(Chair: Andy McLean)

Ms. Emy Furuya, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)

Dr. Kiran Bedi, Police Advisor, Civilian Police Division,

UN Department of Peackeeping Operations (UNDPKO)

Dr. Andrew Morrison, Poverty and Gender Group, World Bank

Workshop Agenda 19
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

SESSION II

2:45-3:30 THE INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING

(I) (Chair: Necla Tschirgi)

Meetings in Empty Rooms: Strengthening Public Oversight and Participation in

Police Reform: The Case of Northern Ireland

Dr. Neil Jarman, Institute for Conflict Research, Belfast

Reports Not Read, Recommendations Resisted: Convincing the Police of the Merits of
Community-based Policing

Prof. Otwin Marenin, Department of Political Science/Program in Criminal Justice,

Washington State University

3:30-3:45 Coffee break

3:45-5:15 THE INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING

(II) (Chair: Agnes Hurwitz)

Governance, Police Reform, and Community-based Policing

Dr. Mark Baskin, Senior Associate, State University of New York Center for International
Development, and Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center

Rule of Law and Community-based Policing

Mr. Chris Gale, Consultant, Department for International Development (DFID), UK

Civilian Policing in UN Peace Operations

Dr. Renata Dwan, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

5:15-5:30 Concluding remarks

Mr. Andy McLean, Deputy Director, Saferworld

Dr. Necla Tschirgi, Vice President, International Peace Academy

20 Workshop Agenda
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Participants List

Dr. Mark Baskin Dr. Neil Jarman

Woodrow Wilson Center, University of Princeton Institute for Conflict Research

Dr. Kiran Bedi Mr. Oman Kohn

UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the
Civilian Police Division United Nations

Mr. Kaha Chitaia David Malone

Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations International Peace Academy

Dr. Mark Downes Prof. Otwin Marenin

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Department of Political Science,
Mission to Serbia and Montenegro Washington State University

Dr. Renata Dwan Mr. Graham Mathias

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Saferworld

Ms. Emy Furuya Mr. Andy McLean

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Saferworld

Mr. Chris Gale Ms. Jo Moir

Consultant Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the
United Nations
Ms. Andrea Goodman
UN Development Program, Bureau for Crisis Prevention Dr. Andrew Morrison
and Recovery World Bank

Ms. Hesta Groenewald Fed. Agt. Richard Moses

Saferworld Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations

Mr. Ludovic Hood Mr. Undule Mwakasungula

UN Development Program Centre for Human Rights and Research

Mr. Adrian Horn Ms. Rachel Neild

Horn Ltd. Consultant

H.E. Mr. Jean-Marc Hoscheit Mr. Dag Halvor Nylander

Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations
United Nations
Mr. Heiko Nitzschke
International Peace Academy
Lt. Col. Ken J.D. Hume
Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the Dr. Gordon Peake
United Nations International Peace Academy

Dr. Agnes Hurwitz H.E. Mr. Allan Rock

International Peace Academy Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations

Participants List 21
 POLICE REFORM THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING: PHILOSOPHY AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Mr. Mark Rodgers

Consultant

Col. Jussi Saressalo

International Peace Academy

Mr. Norimasa Shimomura

United Nations Development Program

Mr. Flavius Stan

International Peace Academy

Ms. Kaysie Studdard

International Peace Academy

Cmr. Håkan Thelin

Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations

Dr. Necla Tschirgi

International Peace Academy

Mr. Luc van de Goor

Netherlands Institute of International Relations—
Clingendael

Maj. Niels Henrik Wøeggsborg

Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations

22 Participants List
International Peace Academy Saferworld
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New York, NY 10017-3521 London N1 6HT UK
Tel: (212) 687-4300 Tel: +44 (0) 207324 4646
Fax: (212) 983-8246 Fax: +44 (0) 207324 4647
www.ipacademy.org www.saferworld.org.uk