Continued Courage and Committment
Today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable interviewed Major General Michael D. Jones, Commanding General, Coalition Police Assistance Training Team - Iraq. His job is to assist and advise the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior on police operations.
The new Iraqi Police report to the Ministry of the Interior. They are organized in two sections, a National Police and then the police which reach down to the locality.
The National Police are the equivalent of the Italian Carabinieri, and MG Jones says that this type of organization is common in countries in the region. He classed their current training and purpose as light infantry and counter-insurgency. The Ministry sees the National Police, when the security situation improves further, evolving into an emergency response role.
The locals are structured from the Ministry to the provincial level, to districts and then stations. Each level has a “police chief” - a commander, and a staff.
The total Iraqi police force, under the MOI, grew from about 350,000 to about 410,000 last year. That includes National Police, locals, and all the other police agencies that fall under the Ministry. There were 8,000 added in al Anbar province alone.
In Baghdad, police numbers have increased by 11,000, with the final goal being 12,600 by April. The Baghdad numbers include about 2,500 “Sons of Iraq”, concerned local citizens [CLCs].
General Jones described the evolution of the Iraqi police in the last year. The authorities conducted a major house-cleaning, with wholesale replacements of commanders at all levels. Each brigade of the NP were pulled from the line and run through a training course. That process has been completed.
The Italian Carabinieri are engaged in a high end leadership training program. Jones reported that the first two battalions of NP’s have completed the course and the third is set to begin. The focus is on training the leadership and training the trainers. Working with a smaller unit is allowing a higher degree of focus by the Italians on high end skills, the rule of law and small unit operations.
The reforms and additional police are producing results. About half of Baghdad is under IP control. The Ministry is handling payroll by itself, and is supporting about three-quarters of the costs for the police academies.
The Ministry and the police have made huge strides since Jones was last in Iraq in 2005. He reports institutional developement progressing, with an Inspector General and an Internal Affairs division. Last year, Internal Affairs opened 10,000 cases, and had investigated and acted on between 80-90% of the cases by year end. Over 4,000 police and Ministry employees had received some sort of disciplinary action as a result. General Jones sees this as a positive sign.
Logistics and infrastructure are the major problems at present. He points out that it is far easier to add people and payroll than it is to supply them and build stations.
Logistical and leadership challenges continue, requiring continued courage and committment from the MOI and the police themselves. Police casualties run double those of the Iraqi military and they still face internal enemies like al Qadea in Iraq, and unfriendly neighbors.
Despite the continued challenges, General Jones is impressed with the progress made by the Iraqis in a short amount of time.
Table of contents for Bloggers' Roundtable
- We Don’t Commute to Work Anymore
- Terror Investors Might Want to Look Elsewhere
- I Hear It’s Safe
- In Our Area the Taliban Are Paying More a Month
- Iraqi Police Progress
- Sept. 11 Conspirators Going to Trial
- Continued Courage and Committment
- The Year of Opportunity - 2008
- Competent, Capable, Effective Leadership
- Afghan Army Acts: Decisive, Overwhelming
- Iraqi Military Medical Services
- Dallas Reporting: Aid Mission to Georgia
- Military Integration Into NIMS
- Status Report From the Afghan South
- Status Report From the Afghan East
- Fourth Fleet Is About Partnerships
- Iraqi Police Primer
- Sons of Iraq Status Update
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[...] UPDATE: Continued Courage and Committment [...]