|
|
|
Background Development and reform of local police is dependent upon the provision of adequate funding for equipment and training. UNMIBH has carried out a review of priorities for the Police Assistance Trust Fund. An overall needs assessment and survey of local police facilities and available equipment have been undertaken. A police station staffed by 50 fully equipped officers along European standards was considered an ideal option. Comparing what exists to the optimal situation and adjusting for number of officers actually serving in each station, it is estimated that the total future requirement will exceed US$100 million. However as a first stage there is a pressing need to strengthen the program of police patrol by providing essential equipment and facilities. Madrid Commitments, Objectives Support for the IPTF's building block approach to training and equipping the local police. The PIC endorsed the 1999 RRTF Action Plan which calls for donor support to train and equip the local police, and to reconstruct police stations to modernize the police force and enable it to provide professional service to all BiH citizens, including minority communities. Present situation - progress to date Destruction and loss of police stations and equipment during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was widespread. The local police have done substantial self-help work to repair buildings. The police have taken steps to overcome the loss of furniture, vehicles and communications but they still need essentials. Most stations provide limited shelter but many are not sufficiently weatherproof and also lack basic furniture such as desks and chairs. Police stations responsible for covering several hundred square kilometers have few vehicles, no computers and poor communications. Moreover, the police forces of both entities are poorly paid, more so in Republika Srpska. Equipping and training programs can release funds within Ministries for improving salaries that would go some way toward stopping corruption in the police forces themselves. The Madrid PIC acknowledged that returnees need jobs and a safe environment reliably policed. For OHR email addresses and other contact information, please click the Contacts heading. UNMIBH: Tonya Cook, Policy Officer OHR: Michael Haner, Political Advisor for Policing and Law Enforcement Funding needs |
|
UNMIBH has identified 33 projects, covering essential equipment for local police stations. Each project can commence immediately upon receipt of funding and be completed in four months. The Police Assistance Trust Fund Unit of UNMIBH will implement the project and prepare implementation reports for the donors. Additional information, Remarks: -
Background A quick impact fund is needed to speed the process of police restructuring in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the Federation, the 1996 Bonn-Petersburg Agreement and subsequent agreements drive the restructuring process. In the Republika Srpska, the 1998 Framework Agreement on Police Restructuring, Reform, and Democratization serves as the foundation for reform efforts. Funds are needed to subsidize the commitments made by the Parties and for special tasks assigned to UNMIBH, including the recruitment, selection, training and certification of existing and new police officers, including minority candidates. Funds are needed for retraining programs for police made redundant through restructuring. Funds are also needed for public information campaigns and community policing projects to educate the general public on the role of the police in a democratic society. This would help demystify "police powers and authority" and enhance accountability of police to the public they serve. Madrid Commitments, Objectives Faster police restructuring, including the establishment of multi-ethnic professional police. Reform and democratization of the local police according to European standards. Implementation of the UNMIBH Strategy on Recruitment and Return of Minority Police which is a major feature of the 1999 RRTF Plan. Present situation - progress to date Due to advances made in police restructuring in both entities and the concurrent depletion of resources previously allocated to special tasks assigned to UNMIBH , the fund now requires a total of US$1 million to facilitate the reform and restructuring activities of all parties. UNMIBH has certified over 95 percent of 11,500 officers in the Federation and is in the process of provisionally certifying 8500 officers in Republika Srpska. The recruitment of minority police officers through academy training and inter-cantonal and inter-entity transfers of existing officers is one of UNMIBH's top priorities. Key to both of these strategies is an active media campaign and the possibility of subsidizing the programs established to reduce and retrain excess officers in the forces and bring about the necessary changes to their ethnic composition. Slowed restructuring is a function of both political obstruction and a lack of funds on the part of the Ministries and the IPTF to carry out commitments. While political solutions can be sought in some cases, the negotiations for a solution on who pays for training costs, pays the salary of the psychologist, etc. can take months. For OHR email addresses and other contact information, please click the Contacts heading. UNMIBH: Tonya Cook, Policy Officer OHR: Michael Haner, Political Advisor for Policing and Law Enforcement Funding needs |
|
The Agreement Implementation Fund would function as a Quick Impact Fund for small-scale projects in support of the reform process not covered by the UNMIBH Budget or Police Assistance Trust Fund. The Quick Impact Fund would target projects related to the restructuring and the democratization of the police:
Additional information, Remarks: -
Background IPTF's role in training local police involves developing modern training facilities for new police officers. Madrid Commitments, Objectives The Madrid PIC called for fully functioning police academies in both entities. The RS facility is to be established by 31 March 1999. Present situation - progress to date Contributing countries have recognized through their pledges and programs (below) that police academies are essential to the creation of a new generation of professional police and a key to the integration of minorities into the police forces. Thanks to earlier donor support from the governments of Germany and Norway, a new academy class of 110 began classes in a renovated and upgraded facility in Vraca, Sarajevo in April. Additional funding is pledged to continue to renovate and re-equip the two existing Federation academy facilities in Vraca and Suhodol. In the Republika Srpska, an interim space has been located in Banja Luka for first multiethnic class of recruits to begin late June and a new permanent academy site is still in the process of being identified. At this stage , academy facilities will be at the entity level. In the long-term it is envisioned that a more advanced police training academy will be established at the BiH level to serve the needs of both entities. An assessment of requirements for a national academy will be prepared at later stage and funds solicited from member states. For OHR email addresses and other contact information, please click the Contacts heading. UNMIBH: Tonya Cook, Policy Officer OHR: Michael Haner, Political Advisor for Policing and Law Enforcement Funding needs |
|
Additional information, Remarks: -
|
|