03 February 2006
U.S., Coalition Forces Mentor Iraqi Police on Shared Values
U.S. Army's Colonel Buchanan says changing values within units will take time
Washington – A U.S. Army commander says 2006 is the “Year of the Police” in Iraq, with U.S. and coalition forces working as coaches and mentors within Iraqi police units to boost levels of proficiency.
Army Colonel Jeffrey Buchanan, who works directly with both new and seasoned Iraqi police recruits as well as special police commando units in Iraq, recently underlined the importance of coaching, teaching and mentoring Iraqi colleagues.
Speaking to reporters at the Defense Department from Iraq on February 3, Buchanan said Iraqi police forces have been operating largely in an urban light infantry role rather than as police officers. “Now we think that the future is to take them to a true national police force, to where they’re badge-carrying and qualified officers enforcing the Iraqi rule of law throughout the provinces,” he said.
Buchanan said it will take time to achieve that goal, but steps will be taken in 2006 to provide appropriate training to Iraqi police officers. Buchanan said the training and coaching mission is open-ended.
Iraqi police actions are monitored closely, he said, to ensure “that they operate in accordance with Iraqi law.” If overly aggressive Iraqi police behavior is observed, Buchanan said, embedded coalition forces might counsel them to change their conduct; if necessary, they might intervene. The commander said his forces would not hesitate “to stop illegal acts or abuse” if they witnessed any.
Part of the job of his soldiers, Buchanan said, is to assess the capabilities and limitations of the Iraqi police forces as they take control over more areas of the country. Typically, he said, an Iraqi brigade is made up of around 50 percent to 70 percent Shi’ite Arabs and between 20 percent and 40 percent Sunni Arabs, with two brigades also incorporating a small Kurdish component. With such representation, the commander said, “they tend to treat people fairly.”
Even though coalition trainers have “had a tremendous impact shaping behavior” as well as making progress to change existing values, Buchanan acknowledged that the effort to change values “is going to take a long time.”
As part of the plan to boost Iraqi police proficiency, the commander said, mobile training teams composed of international police advisers soon would be serving six-week rotations with individual units to reinforce law enforcement training.
“Understanding what it’s like to be a servant of society . . . as part of a democratically elected government is something that is going to take time to learn,” Buchanan said. Being part of a volunteer force is a new concept in Iraq, he said, but the Iraqi recruits are “starting to learn that democracy is far more complex than simply choosing those who govern you.”
A transcript of Buchanan’s briefing is available on the Defense Department’s Web site.
For more information on U.S. policy, see Iraq Update.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
