United States Participation in International Police (CIVPOL) Missions

United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK)

United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 authorized UNMIK in June 1999 at the end of the NATO bombing. The mission includes an armed international police force with nearly 3,545 officers from 49 countries. UNMIK police officers perform the full range of law enforcement functions in Kosovo while simultaneously helping to develop and train a new Kosovo Police Service (KPS) from the ground up.

UNMIK is in the process of turning over full policing responsibilities to the KPS, which numbers approximately 6,350 trained officers from all ethnic groups in Kosovo. The U.S. currently provides approximately 300 American police officers to UNMIK, down from a high of 605 and including the Deputy Commissioner for Operations. The U.S. also currently provides approximately nine police trainers to the KPS academy, including the Academy Director, managed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

After the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in December 1995, an unarmed CIVPOL mission, the International Police Task Force (IPTF), was established by UN Security Council resolution 1031 to, inter alia, monitor the operations of Bosnian police, and supervise the restructuring of all Bosnian police institutions. The IPTF had an authorized strength of 2,057 and was made up of officers from over 40 nations. The U.S. maintained a contingent of 200 officers, including the position of IPTF Deputy Commissioner. The IPTF ceased operations December 31, 2002, and transferred international policing responsibilities to the follow-on European Union Police Mission (EUPM).

UN Security Council resolution 1272 authorized the UNTAET mission in 1999 in the aftermath of the extreme violence that followed the vote to separate East Timor from Indonesia. The UN established UNTAET to perform interim, transitional governmental functions, including law enforcement, and to establish local permanent government institutions, such as the 2,800 member East Timor Police Service (ETPS). The U.S. provided 80 police officers to the 1,640-member armed UNTAET CIVPOL mission. On May 20, 2002, East Timor achieved independence and UN Security Council resolution 1410 authorized the establishment of UNMISET to assist the new government of East Timor (now known as Timor-Leste) assume full responsibility for all governmental functions. The last U.S. CIVPOL officers left mission in May 2005.

Following skirmishes in early spring of 2001 in Northern Macedonia that threatened regional security, the ethnic Albanian separatist leaders and the Macedonian government signed the Framework Agreement, which laid the groundwork for peace in Macedonia. The Agreement called upon the OSCE to assist with reestablishing police presence in sensitive areas and training new ethnic minority police recruits. The U.S. currently provides one CIVPOL officer to assist with reintegrating police into sensitive communities.

The U.S. provides one training coordinator, one community policing program manager, and one border policing program manager to this OSCE mission. These officers assist the OSCE with development and delivery of modern policing courses at the new Advanced Training Center located in Belgrade.

The U.S. provided a U.S. CIVPOL officer to assist with developing, training, and monitoring the Sierra Leone police force in the areas of organized crime, border control, and trafficking in conflict diamonds. The U.S. officer who was in UNAMSIL was the first American to serve in a CIVPOL mission in Africa.

After years of civil war and instability in Liberia and the region, UN Security Council Resolution 1509 established UNMIL which is a peacekeeping operation that includes 1,115 CIVPOL from 36 different nations. UNMIL CIVPOL are establishing, training, and restructuring the Liberian National Police into the new Liberian Police Service as well as co-locating with Liberian police to advise and monitor police activities around the country. The first UNMIL Police Commissioner, Mark Kroeker, was the first American to head a UN CIVPOL mission. (Kroeker became the first American to head the CIVPOL division in the UN Department of Peace Keeping Office (DPKO) in February 2005.) At its height, the U.S. contributed 75 uniformed police officers to UNMIL. There are currently 20 U.S. officers in country, with the majority serving in the capital, Monrovia.

Security Council Resolution 1542 authorized a CIVPOL mission of up to 1,622 officers to assist the Transitional Government in monitoring, restructuring, and reforming the Haitian National Police consistent with democratic policing standards, including vetting and certifying personnel, advising on reorganization and training, including gender training, and monitoring/mentoring members of the Haitian National Police. MINUSTAH began June 1, 2004. The U.S. has one senior level police advisor working with the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince and 25 CIVPOL officers, most of whom are Haitian Creole and/or French-speaking.

The five-year reign of the Taliban, which ended with U.S. and coalition military actions initiated in late 2001, left much of Afghanistan’s infrastructure in need of substantial repair, renovation, and reconstruction. The U.S. supports the German-led international effort to reform, equip, and train the Afghanistan National Police (50,000), Border Patrol (12,000), and Highway Patrol (2,600). As of March 2005, the U.S. has trained over 39,000 police. The Afghanistan police program also provides personal equipment, police station renovations, communications equipment, support for Ministry of Interior reform programs, and contributions to the United Nations Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOFTA). We currently have 80 police trainers in mission, with an additional 30 advisors assigned to the Ministry of Interior. The U.S. is also supporting the Italian-led effort to ensure that the judicial system is developing along with police capacities. The program trains judges, lawyers, and supplies legal advisors to help the Afghans build a fair, transparent, and effective criminal justice system. Additionally, the U.S. is working with other international partners to help develop a correctional system that meets international human rights standards.

The Department of State has a leading role in supporting criminal justice system development, including police, justice, and prison programs, in Iraq.

In May 2004, National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD) 36 assigned principal responsibility for training, developing, and equipping the Iraq Security Forces, including the civilian police, to the U.S. Department of Defense, Central Command (CENTCOM). CENTCOM established subordinate organizations known as the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) and the Civilian Police Advisory Training Team (CPATT). The Department of State supports CPATT's work in police development in Iraq. 

In September 2003, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) constructed and now operates the Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC) located near Amman to train Iraq law enforcement personnel. Sixteen nations provide a total of 352 international police trainers to the JIPTC. JIPTC has a capacity to train 3,000 Iraqi police recruits in an eight-week, basic police skills course and graduates 1,500 new police every month. Training is also conducted at the Baghdad Police College and several regional academies throughout Iraq. The U.S. currently contributes 346 police trainers to the JIPTC and police academy staff in Iraq. In addition, 500 U.S. police officers serve in Iraq as International Police Liaison Officers (IPLOs) providing training and mentoring to the Iraq police service.

INL has a leading role in managing justice and prison projects in Iraq. An interagency agreement with the Department of Justice International Criminal Investigative and Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) authorizes and funds corrections advisors in Iraq. A similar agreement with Department of Justice Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provides up to six justice advisors. As of May 2005, 54 corrections advisors and three justice advisors were deployed to Iraq.