America's North Shore Journal

Today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable was with Col. Larry Saunders, Director, Baghdad Police College Transition Team and Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Interior Vice Deputy. He was very patient and gave us a detailed review of the structure and training of the Iraqi police as it is currently constituted. There are three main components of the security forces under the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior the Iraqi Police Service, IPS – 240,000 – These are the local police, recruited and stationed near their homes. Border Police – 80,000 Iraqi National Police – 130,000. These are a paramilitary force similar to a combination of a state police force and a National Guard Military Police. The basic IPS recruit, or shirta, will be trained in either a four or eight week course. The longer course ends at 1 … Read entire article »