The role of civilian police in peacekeeping: 1999-2007

Civilian police were first deployed by the United Nations more than 50 years ago. After a lull of approximately two decades, the number of police on peacekeeping operations increased by 10,000 officers in 2009. The role of police has continued to broaden from monitoring general elections and providing training and basic security to patrolling and developing local police.The inclusion of police in peacekeeping missions is an accepted mantra by both academia and practitioners. However, the role of police in peacekeeping missions is not well understood by policy and decision makers.The purpose of this book is to understand the role that police play in the post-conflict context, especially in regard to reforming local police. Through the examination of 23 United Nations and European Union peacekeeping missions. which took place between 1999 and 2007, this book develops responsive operational tools and policies that will support the effective use of deployed police in their delivery of service and when developing the capacity of local police. The analysis of these operational tools and policies lead to the designing of a generic police peacekeeping model for future peacekeeping or reform missions.The police peacekeeping model consists of a number of dynamic components that take account of flexibility and local culture. Included in the model's components are the implementation of a pre-deployment planning phase and the necessity of objectives and evaluation.It is intended that this study will assist in improving peace-building outcomes by increasing post-conflict security, stability, and development.