UN Police

UN Police have become an essential element in peace operations. The UN Police Division is now an independent unit within the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, with a staff of twenty-five. In May 2006, 7,500 UN Police were engaged in seventeen UN operations, an increase from one mission with thirty-five officers twenty years ago. The largest deployment was in Kosovo (2,086 as of May 2006). The longest-serving mission is in Cyprus, where UN Police have assisted in security arrangements in the "Green Line" since 1964. The United States has been a major contributor of police personnel. U.S. police officers have served in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, and Liberia. As of May 2006, 284 U.S. police officers were serving in UN missions.

UN Police officers were first included in UN peace operations in 1960 in the Congo, when a Ghanaian unit was attached to the UN military force to help the Congolese police maintain order. The term "CIVPOL," for "United Nations Civilian Police," originated at the start of the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. The SGRC suggested including a military police unit in the peacekeeping force. The UN military commander proposed adding a civilian police unit instead; thus the term CIVPOL to differentiate civilian from military police. The official name was changed to UN Police in 2005.

The growth in the number of UN Police missions results from the ability of police to restore public order in the short term, while building law enforcement agencies that are critical for long-term stability. In crisis states, national law enforcement personnel either are unavailable, unwilling, or unable to provide security. UN Police have demonstrated the ability to assist the national law enforcement agencies or, in some cases, replace them entirely. UN Police missions are less expensive than military operations. The presence of UN Police is often more acceptable to host governments and citizens than that of foreign military forces.

Along with increased missions, there has been an expansion of the tasks UN Police are asked to perform. Their core duties are usually to assist in the reform, restructuring, and rebuilding of national law enforcement agencies as well as provide security support to such bodies through the deployment of formed police units. Initially, their role was limited to monitoring national law enforcement agencies to ensure that they respected international criminal justice norms and standards. The UN Police's responsibility was to "observe and report" infringements to higher levels in the UN mission. Over time, UN Police were assigned additional responsibilities, such as training and advising national law enforcement officials, identifying weapons caches, protecting refugees, and assisting with elections. The goal was to strengthen national law enforcement agencies, not to replace them.

This changed in 1999, when the Security Council authorized UN Police in Kosovo and East Timor to exercise a full array of executive law enforcement authority, including arrest, detention, and searches. The assumption of such far-reaching authority was necessitated by the withdrawal of Yugoslav security personnel from Kosovo and Indonesian police from East Timor under the terms of the respective peace agreements.

UN Police deployed in Kosovo and East Timor included formed police units. These units were armed and specially trained and equipped to perform crowd-management functions and other critical public order and law enforcement functions. In Kosovo, they carried out high-risk arrests of organized crime figures, provided close protection for UN officials, protected candidates and election rallies, manned border crossing points and patrolled the border, guarded the airport and prisons, and handled crowds at sports events and public gatherings. These units proved so versatile that they now make up nearly half of the UN Police deployed in peace operations.

While their number and authority have increased, UN Police missions have been troubled by problems with recruiting, training, logistics, and timely deployment. These problems result from the nature of policing worldwide. There is an international shortage of police, particularly those with special expertise. There are also wide differences among nations in the way police are trained and the duties they perform. Unlike military forces that are trained and kept in a state of "readiness" to deploy abroad, police are usually fully occupied serving their communities. Individuals must usually qualify as UN Police by passing a UN- administered examination. The United Nations must provide their facilities and equipment, including vehicles and communication. Recruiting and equipping a large police force drawn from dozens of countries takes time. Normally, UN Police forces require six months to one year to reach their authorized strength and become fully operational.

To address these problems, the UN Police Division has undertaken a number of important initiatives and reforms. It has developed policies for the conduct of police missions, improved criteria and procedures for selection of personnel, and enhanced the United Nations' ability to provide logistic support. The division has created an initial standing police capacity to deploy twenty-five trained and equipped police experts to provide rapid start-up for new police missions. This rapid response headquarters unit can quickly establish a UN presence and begin preparations for the arrival of a UN Police force. The Police Division has also added specialists in the two other elements of the justice system: legal and judicial systems and prisons. These experts advise the UN Police and are available to work with national institutions during peace operations.

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