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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:06 pm
Time: 11:06 pm
Results for policing (africa)
5 results foundAuthor: Rauch, Janine Title: Police Reform in Post-Conflict Africa: A Review Summary: The objectives of this Report are to describe and analyze trends in police transformation in selected post-conflict countries in Africa. The Report was intended inform a workshop to be held on the development of democratic policing in post-conflict countries in Africa. It was envisaged that the workshop would involve police practitioners, researchers and civil society representatives from a range of African and donor countries. More explicitly the aims of the workshop were to: Enable sharing of experiences of post-conflict police reforms in Africa Develop a shared analysis of post-conflict police reforms in Africa Identify good practices and lessons learned from various experiences of police reform Encourage restructuring and democratisation of police organisations in Africa Facilitate networking and co-ordination between role-players in police reform in Africa Identify - with the current research Report as a basis - future research needs and potential interventions in the field of police reform in Africa. Select case-studies: With the above-mentioned objectives in mind, the Report focuses on state police organisations1 in a number of post-conflict countries in Africa. The range of countries surveyed, and the depth of data-gathering, was shaped by both time and budget constraints. The research conducted for the Report comprised a desk-top study in which access to English-language, electronic-source material in particular, proved critical. The limitations associated with a desk-top review include the lack of complete up-to-date information, the absence of the personal intuitive grasp of issues that only an onthe- spot observer possesses, a problem in establishing the real priorities facing complex social and political processes, and a lack of corroborative evidence that comes from face-to-face interviews with key informants. This research needs to be augmented by other research strategies in future. In our view, targeted interviews with both security sector practitioners and development agencies involved in reform efforts during in-country field visits are likely to yield more substantive details about current efforts at police reform in Africa and their outcomes. We therefore propose future primary research in those directions. Research themes: In order to facilitate comparative analysis the discussions for each country are organised around the following main themes: Historical and political context of policing Imperatives for integration/amalgamation of police organisations Demilitarisation and civilianisation Political control and independence of the police organisation and leadership Oversight and accountability arrangements Mechanisms for transitional justice and their impact on police reforms The role and impact of donors on police reform processes The management and co-ordination of donors and technical assistance during the reform process. As will become clear from the country-specific case studies, lack of detail prohibited the formulation of definitive comments on some of the themes. However the identification of gaps in the information that has been made possible through this research does serve a useful purpose in defining a future research agenda. The choice of countries surveyed in the draft report has been influenced by the priorities of the contracting agencies on the one hand, and the researchers’ assessment of the feasibility of the research on the other. Category A contains an in-depth case study of the wide-ranging process of police reform which has been undertaken in South Africa over the past fifteen years. The details contained in this case study are much more comprehensive than in any of the other case studies. In part, this is a function of the fact that police reform in South Africa has been well-documented. Also, police studies, as an academic field in South Africa, is much more advanced than elsewhere on the continent. The South Africa case is furthermore enriched by an ‘insider’ perspective provided by a former senior SAPS police commissioner. Category B comprises brief descriptions of selected aspects of police reform in eight countries: Angola, DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. The coverage of each of these countries varies according to the availability of information to the research team. The list of Category C countries includes Chad, Ethiopia, Liberia, Sudan and Tanzania. On these countries, significantly less research material was available. Although most of the states researched for this report can be described as undergoing some significant form of transition, not all of them emerge from overt conflict. Nigeria, for example, is emerging from a history of military dictatorship, while Kenya has changed from a one-party state to multi-party democracy. Even where there are recent histories of conflict, these case studies have shown a wide variation in the nature of those conflicts – from institutionalized racism in apartheid South Africa, to genocide in Rwanda, and various types of civil war in Liberia, Mozambique and Angola. In all the cases examined for this report, state policing is primarily organised at the national (federal) level, albeit with various forms of regional policing and regional political control and oversight. This is characteristic of police organisations in Africa, but differs markedly from police organisations in large democracies such as India and the US. The types of reforms that are canvassed in these case studies are generally those which are applied to large, national police organisations – working with national organisations can, for instance, facilitate standard-setting, training and donor co-ordination. It is worth noting that in many of the cases described in this report, the processes of police reform are currently under way, or about to commence. Although we have emphasised some of the increasing similarities in the processes of police reform in post-conflict African states, there is potential for varied trajectories in the near future. The cases of Liberia, DRC and South Sudan, for instance, are likely to differ from each other in many respects. Included in this report are eight of the largest (in terms of population size and/or land mass) countries on the African continent. In Africa, large states perform poorly. Stated differently, in Africa big states exhibit `varying conditions of dysfunctionality.’ Understanding the links between size and dysfunctionality is important for purposes of grasping the particular developmental challenges which big states in Africa confront. Such developmental challenges have a bearing on the prospects for state-building more generally. Such challenges will also impact on the prospects for building the coercive institutions of the state such as the public police - the very subject of this research enquiry. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA), 2006. 164p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2011 at: http://www.idasa.org/media/uploads/outputs/files/Police%20Reform%20-%20Full%20report.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Africa URL: http://www.idasa.org/media/uploads/outputs/files/Police%20Reform%20-%20Full%20report.pdf Shelf Number: 121042 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice ReformPolicing (Africa) |
Author: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum Title: An Audit of Police Oversight in Africa Summary: This audit is provided to give insight into the diversity of police oversight on the African continent and the challenges it faces. Through this publication APCOF also seeks to raise awareness on the importance of policing oversight in the ongoing efforts to promote reform or transform police agencies into organisations that are effective and efficient but also respectful of peoples’ and human rights. The field is dynamic and this audit should be seen as a work in progress. The audit was undertaken over a period of two years as four separate studies into police oversight in the Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern African regions. The report is structured to provide a brief background to the country and its political and legal system, an overview of the police and the oversight mechanisms over the police. Details: Cape Town, South Africa: African Minds, 2008. 128p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2011 at: http://www.africanminds.co.za/books/An%20Audit%20of%20Police%20Oversight%20in%20Africa.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Africa URL: http://www.africanminds.co.za/books/An%20Audit%20of%20Police%20Oversight%20in%20Africa.pdf Shelf Number: 121227 Keywords: Police AccountabilityPolice CorruptionPolice MisconductPolice ReformPolicing (Africa) |
Author: Downie, Richard Title: A More Strategic U.S. Approach to Police Reform in Africa Summary: U.S. strategic stakes in Africa have expanded in the last 15 years, with growing awareness among policymakers and the American public that developments in Africa can have direct and significant impact on U.S. economic, political, and security interests. The last decade has seen strong bipartisan support for initiatives that seek to accelerate African development, institution building, and security sector capacities. Within that period, however, few policymakers have chosen to emphasize the vital role that Africa’s police can play in delivering—or undermining—this agenda. Overseas police support is a component of both Security Sector Reform and democratic institution building, yet the U.S. security agenda has largely focused on bolstering militaries while democracy strengthening efforts have tended to favor nonsecurity institutions. Civilian policing has tended to fall through the cracks. CSIS convened a working group of experts from the U.S. Congress, government, universities, and the nonprofit sector to discuss the challenge of police reform in Africa and come up with recommendations for the U.S. administration to tackle it more effectively. This report details the working group’s exchanges and recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2011. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 2, 2012 at: http://csis.org/files/publication/110414_Downie_PolicyReformAfrica_Web.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://csis.org/files/publication/110414_Downie_PolicyReformAfrica_Web.pdf Shelf Number: 124340 Keywords: Police ReformPolicing (Africa) |
Author: Marenin, Otwin Title: Policing Reforms and Economic Development in African States: Understanding the Linkages: Empowering Change Summary: The notion that economic development in African states requires minimal levels of security has become widely accepted in the international development community. Reforming nonfunctioning policing systems is an important step toward achieving security, yet the experience of changing policing systems in Africa is disappointing. Only South Africa and a few post-conflict states (Sierra Leone, Liberia) have achieved some measure of success. Many of the political, social, and economic contextual conditions that would support reforms of policing are absent. Recommendations on what policies could work, drawn from the general policing reform literature and African case studies, are suggested. Details: Helsinki, Finland: United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: WIDER Working Paper No. 2013/013: Accessed March 5, 2013 at: www.wider.unu.edu Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: Shelf Number: 127826 Keywords: Economic DevelopmentPolice ReformPolicing (Africa) |
Author: Baffa, Tsegaye D. Title: African Standby Force Police Roster System: Proposed features, operations and processes Summary: Despite its wide support a standardised roster system for the African Standby Force (ASF) has not yet been established. Drawing on the experiences of maintaining civilian rosters for peacekeeping operations, this paper specifies the proposed features and functions of the ASF police roster system. It also proposes the relevant standards, procedures and tools of the roster data operations and sharing; provides insights into the processes of the system’s creation, operationalisation and management; and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the establishment and operation of the system. The paper can inform and assist in the establishment and operationalisation of a standardised, integrated database system that enables systematic capturing, maintenance, updating and sharing of information on the capabilities, training, deployment and performance of the ASF police personnel. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2013. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Paper 247: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://www.issafrica.org/publications/papers/african-standby-force-police-roster-system-proposed-features-operations-and-processes Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.issafrica.org/publications/papers/african-standby-force-police-roster-system-proposed-features-operations-and-processes Shelf Number: 128903 Keywords: Police ManagementPolice PersonnelPolicing (Africa) |