Photo By Sgt. Daniel West | Iraqi police from Special Response Team 3 carry boxes of toys, clothing and candy into...... read more read more
By Sgt. Daniel T. West
41st Fires Brigade
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – Iraqi police in Wasit province are transforming their force from a paramilitary police force to a more traditional one, changing a structure left over from Saddam Hussein's regime.
The restructuring, a directive from the national ministry of the interior, aims to place IPs in positions to exploit their greatest strengths.
"We assign IPs with military backgrounds to the special response teams and the checkpoints," said Brig. Gen. Alawy Hussein Alsaray. "Those who have been trained solely as police officers are assigned to the community police stations. That way, those with a military background work in the areas that are most military-like. The others are assigned to investigations and other traditional police roles."
This method is effective because many of the IP officers are former Iraqi army, said Sgt. Peter Klementowski, 511th Military Police Co., a trainer for the IP.
"Placing the military minds in the SRTs is effective because they play a more military role, are heavily armed and trained in urban warfare tactics," Klementowski said.
"The traditional role, the neighborhood stations, is to be visible every day and to interact with the population," he added. "These should be roles for new officers, those brought up in the police system."
"The biggest thing we are working on is changing the image of the IPs," said Capt. Jess Traver, commander, 511th Military Police Co. "We want to focus on community policing, interacting with the community ... developing a visible IP value system emphasizing duty, commitment, honesty."
"Under Saddam, the police were a paramilitary force that enforced the will of the executive branch," said Klementowski. "When people look at them, they see a remnant of Saddam's regime, responsible for terror and torture."
The IPs are working to demonstrate the difference between the old style of policing and the new.
To change the way they are viewed by the community, the IPs have worked to increase their patrols and their visibility at the checkpoints, said Traver. Both increase their interaction with the community, helping them reach out.
"They are also participating in community policing events," said Klementowski. "They are reaching out to the community through soccer, expositions showing their work, and some stations are inviting people into the stations to show them what it's like to be IPs."
"They are making progress, and their leadership is making the push to change the community's perspective," said Traver. "They are on the right track. They just need time to change their image and to be accepted by the Iraqi people."
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.03.2008 08:02 |
| Story ID: | 24469 |
| Location: | AL KUT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 96 |
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