Policing After Peace

Policing is an essential function of the state that has a direct and immediate bearing on citizens’ everyday life and, therefore, is a cornerstone of post-conflict reconstruction. The period following the agreement is a sensitive period in which the culture of violence still exists and the security apparatus has yet to gain credibility and legitimacy. Reconstruction, includes the creation of local capacities that include economic and political functions that would ensure governance and stability, among which a legitimate police force is central. To prevent the return of conflict legitimate institutions respected by parties to the conflict need to be created. For ethnic groups that struggled against what they perceived as state discrimination, police was often part of the problem, administering an unjust order rather than serving and protecting society. Distrust of police may inhibit its ability to control crime, reduce police effectiveness and, consequently, again, increase distrust of the police A legitimate police force, trusted by all parties to the conflict and able to serve and protect, therefore, is essential. Policing amidst diversity requires police to develop the capabilities to engage with different sectors, overcome its own biases and prejudices and establish trust essential for its performance. Different groups may have different perceptions about what good policing means, based upon different concerns, interests and experiences. Consequently, police reform has to take into account the needs of individual citizens and of communities (or “target groups”) that have specific needs and requirements. Police reforms included changes in recruitment, training of officers, procedures and police-community liaisons. This proposed paper, part of an on-going study, will examine what measures of police reconstruction were attempted in Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina, how international organizations have approached the challenge and what can we learn from the current state of policing in post-conflict states.