06 February 2004
Crime Drops as Iraqi Forces Take Greater Responsibility for Security
Police and ICDC carrying out greater number of independent patrols
By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Crime rates in Iraq's major cities are dropping as Iraqi police and civil defense forces assume a growing role in ensuring domestic order. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Senior Advisor Daniel Senor reported in a February 3 news briefing in Baghdad that crime rates in the Iraqi capital have declined by 39 percent over the past two months while crime in Basra has dropped by 70 percent.
"The effectiveness of the Iraqi police force, specifically in Baghdad, speaks for itself," Senor stated. "Clearly the presence of Iraqi police on the front lines, walking the patrols, addressing the problems, is having an effect."
Iraqi security responsibilities on the community level are divided between the police force, which assumes basic law enforcement duties and pursues criminal investigations, and an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC), which is entrusted with more complex military-type operations.
As ICDC forces gain more confidence and experience, they are increasingly taking the lead in major security operations. A January 28 CPA press release from Ar-Ramadi reported that "The capabilities of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps are growing steadily as they continue to independently operate in the Al Anbar province to provide peace and stability for the region."
Daily reports from Ar-Ramadi indicate that ICDC forces carry out about 12 to 15 independent patrols per day in that city, which has long been a center of resistance to coalition forces.
According to Defense Department Spokesman Captain David Romley, the ICDC forces are particularly effective because they come from the region. "They know the lay of the land. They know the language, and they are able to identify who belongs and who doesn't," he explained.
Romley noted that in addition to their independent patrols, ICDC forces often lead joint security operations in which coalition troops act as secondary or back-up forces.
Brigadier General Mark Kimmit announced during the February 3 briefing that Brigadier General Martin Dempsey, who is in charge of 40,000 coalition troops stationed in Baghdad, is sufficiently satisfied with the effectiveness of the police and ICDC that he will begin moving coalition forces from positions in the center of the city to the outskirts.
Kimmit stated that in Dempsey's assessment, "we have a minimum sufficient number of police, Iraqi Civil Defense Corps ... [and] Iraqi army forces that can handle the security within the city."
Consequently, General Dempsey intends to begin relocating troops to the outskirts of Baghdad, where they can serve as emergency back-up forces.
During a February 1 briefing, Dempsey said, "When you put 60 U.S. Army base camps in a city, they come along with sandbags, concrete barriers, concertina wire, and it just causes a lot of disruption."
He said that coalition forces would move to six camps on the city's perimeter, with only two camps remaining in the Green Zone downtown. Currently, the general's plans call for the redeployment to be completed by May 1.
In the February 3 briefing General Kimmit defined this as the coalition's ultimate goal, "that the Iraqi people take responsibility for their own public security and national defense."
According to the U.S. Defense Department, Iraq's police force now numbers 70,000, just shy of the projected total force of 71,000, and the ICDC forces stand at 21,000, just over half of the desired force size of 40,000.
Captain Romley said that other branches of the Iraqi security forces include 21,000 border police, a force that is expected to grow to 26,000, and approximately 92,000 in the facilities protection services, whose task it is to guard important infrastructure and government buildings.
In addition, he said that a cadre of 1,700 officers and NCOs have been trained to serve as a core for the country's army. These officers will in turn train enlisted soldiers, with the goal of establishing an army of approximately 40,000 troops.
Romley said that the army is designed strictly to protect the territorial integrity of the country and will not serve any internal, domestic function.
In all, Iraq's security forces now stand in excess of 200,000 men, outnumbering the coalition presence of 140,000 troops.
Meanwhile, the CPA's Project Management Office announced January 29 that it has allocated more than $150 million for renovation of four Iraqi military installations and several recruiting stations. The installations include the Tadji military base, the Al Kasik army base west of Mosul, the Um Qasr naval base, and the An Numiniyah military base near Baghdad.
The CPA is also providing standard uniforms and equipment to the security forces.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=February&x=20040206111400ndyblehs0.3138086&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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