26 August 2010

U.S. Program Boosts Global Law Enforcement Capacity

Long-term programs getting results in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines

By Jane Morse
Staff Writer

Washington — With more than 7,000 islands and 35,400 kilometers (22,000 miles) of coastline, guarding Philippine waters is a monumental job for law enforcement.

That job just got a little easier with the U.S. donation of four police patrol boats to the Philippine National Police Maritime Group’s Special Boat Unit.

At the boat donation ceremony (PDF, 48KB) August 16, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. said the donation — which will soon be followed by two more patrol boats — will help Philippines police protect the country against terrorism, smuggling, transnational crime and human trafficking, and also aid in rescues at sea.

“Policing the maritime environment is vital not only for domestic security, but regional and even global security,” Thomas said. “A strong and sustained maritime policing capability will safeguard the security of all.”

Funding for the patrol boats came from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. But that assistance is implemented by the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) of the U.S. Justice Department.

ICITAP was created in 1986 to work with foreign governments to develop professional law enforcement capacity that protects human rights, combats corruption and reduces the threat of transnational crime and terrorism. Working within a framework of the U.S. government’s foreign assistance strategy, ICITAP supports U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives.

U.S. government agencies that fund ICITAP programs include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the departments of State and Defense. ICITAP trainers include agents from the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

OUTREACH IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

Of the 38 countries where ICITAP currently is training, three are in the Asia-Pacific region: Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

“Every country is different,” said ICITAP’s assistant director in charge of programs in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. “These three countries have their own very unique challenges, but they also have a lot of common concerns. Transnational crime, counterterrorism — those are major considerations for that part of the world.”

Training in the region focuses on building fundamental skills, such as how to conduct investigations, the proper way to collect evidence and nonviolent methods for controlling civil disturbances, according to the assistant director. A former U.S. police officer himself, he declined to have his name used in this article.

ICITAP’s law enforcement training is part of a long-term development program for each country. For example, ICITAP has led the Police Assistance Program for the Indonesian national police since it separated itself from the Indonesian armed forces in 2000.

“There are approximately 380,000 police in Indonesia, so you’re dealing with a very, very large police force,” said the ICITAP assistant director. “If you’re going to accomplish organizational change, it takes a long time.”

Starting at the most basic level with the fledgling police force, ICITAP has trained Indonesian police to meet progressively more complex and demanding challenges, such as cybercrime, forensic and DNA analysis, maritime security and trafficking in humans and wildlife. The progress of the Indonesian police force, which is spread across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, is “absolutely astounding,” according to the U.S. official.

In Thailand, ICITAP conducts programs focusing on community policing, the U.S. official said. Crime-scene management, criminal investigation, crisis management, crowd control, instructor development and institutional development assistance are among the many areas of training provided by ICITAP to the Royal Thai Police.

In the Philippines, ICITAP has helped the Philippine National Police (PNP) accomplish top-to-bottom structural reforms. Among the ICITAP programs there is the “model police station,” designed to correct operational deficiencies in some 27 local police stations across the country. The goal, the U.S. official said, is to have all station-level personnel competent in contemporary law enforcement topics and to establish standard operating procedures.

The Philippines’ 200,000-strong police force also must address the challenges of terrorism and transnational crime. ICITAP is helping it develop the necessary skills.

The PNP and the Philippine military have developed good cooperation in raiding terrorist camps in the most dangerous areas of the country, the U.S. official said, with the PNP taking the lead in collecting and managing evidence. In one such raid, the assistant director said, PNP officers used their ICITAP training to collect evidence that identified two members of Abu Sayyaf, a violent Islamic separatist group operating in the southern Philippines. Two Abu Sayyaf members killed in that raid were on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” terrorist list.

Success in the PNP is “self-perpetuating,” the U.S. official said. “Once they sit through the [ICITAP] classes, they realize the potential that they have — they just have to be given the keys to unlock it.”

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)