Iraqi Police Academy
Many of the politicians in Washington say that as soon as the Iraqi Army and Police Force are able to protect their citizens without assistance from the coalition forces, American soldiers can start coming home to their families. This is very disheartening to me after talking with a couple American contractors that are in country to train Iraqi civilians to make up the new Iraqi Police Force. They have a very pessimistic view on the time table for successful completion of this project.
Both of the men I spoke to are retired police officers that have signed up for at least one year of training because the money and benefits are too good to pass up. They make nearly three times as much as they did during their civilian police careers, which equals a minimum pay of 160,000 dollars per year with the first 80,000 dollars tax free. They don't pay for food, board or medical care, but are separated from their families and have almost no time off.
The current training program is 8 weeks long and is conducted at the Baghdad Police Academy located somewhere in the red zone. The contractors are not allowed to leave the facility due to the high risk level involved with traveling. The two men I met were attending a week long seminar at the palace. They normally work 7 days a week teaching classes.
Almost all the police recruits are of the male persuasion. There were two female recruits during the last class but none of the other students took them seriously. The male recruits stay on site the entire 8 weeks. The female trainees must go home at the end of each day, which is much more dangerous. One of the instructors asked the class if anyone felt women could successfully perform the duties of a police officer. Every Iraqi trainee, including the two females, felt this was impossible.
The trainers previously went out on the beat with the graduates for further training, but because so many were injured or killed, this is no longer happening. All training stops at the end of 8 weeks.
The trainers identified several problems within the system. First and most important is the level of ongoing corruption. Recruits must first bribe or pay off someone to get enrolled in the program. Furthermore all officers are paid in cash at the end of the week so that exactly where all the money ends up is unknown. There are about 175 recruits on the payroll but only 130 in the program. The remaining salaries are divided between the upper level officers.
The other significant problem identified by the police trainers is unethical treatment of suspects. Most Iraqi officers felt it was fair to beat someone on the soles of the feet because it left no marks, even after receiving the lectures covering fair treatment of suspects.
The trainers felt these problems are cultural issues that will most likely never change. Overall this adds up to an inability to train an effective Iraqi police force.
Both of the men I spoke to are retired police officers that have signed up for at least one year of training because the money and benefits are too good to pass up. They make nearly three times as much as they did during their civilian police careers, which equals a minimum pay of 160,000 dollars per year with the first 80,000 dollars tax free. They don't pay for food, board or medical care, but are separated from their families and have almost no time off.
The current training program is 8 weeks long and is conducted at the Baghdad Police Academy located somewhere in the red zone. The contractors are not allowed to leave the facility due to the high risk level involved with traveling. The two men I met were attending a week long seminar at the palace. They normally work 7 days a week teaching classes.
Almost all the police recruits are of the male persuasion. There were two female recruits during the last class but none of the other students took them seriously. The male recruits stay on site the entire 8 weeks. The female trainees must go home at the end of each day, which is much more dangerous. One of the instructors asked the class if anyone felt women could successfully perform the duties of a police officer. Every Iraqi trainee, including the two females, felt this was impossible.
The trainers previously went out on the beat with the graduates for further training, but because so many were injured or killed, this is no longer happening. All training stops at the end of 8 weeks.
The trainers identified several problems within the system. First and most important is the level of ongoing corruption. Recruits must first bribe or pay off someone to get enrolled in the program. Furthermore all officers are paid in cash at the end of the week so that exactly where all the money ends up is unknown. There are about 175 recruits on the payroll but only 130 in the program. The remaining salaries are divided between the upper level officers.
The other significant problem identified by the police trainers is unethical treatment of suspects. Most Iraqi officers felt it was fair to beat someone on the soles of the feet because it left no marks, even after receiving the lectures covering fair treatment of suspects.
The trainers felt these problems are cultural issues that will most likely never change. Overall this adds up to an inability to train an effective Iraqi police force.
posted by Heidi O at 3:04 PM
1 Comments:
My cousin's husband, Johnnie Green, who is with the Federal Bomb Squad is over there somewhere training Iraqi solders. Keep your chin up, girl. We are all pulling for you/1
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