| Front Page |
Reforming The Somaliland’s Police Force
By: Abdullahi Hussein Daud, Minneapolis, MN
The Problem:
The brutal killing of the foreign aid workers in Somaliland and subsequent escape of the culprits have called into question the ability of our police department to fight crimes and to bring perpetrators to justice. Currently, Somaliland’s police force is typically like the then Faqash-run, centralized police structure of former Somalia. To add insult to the injury, our police department still uses the ex-Somali police’s logo of Goodirka, which doesn’t enhance the current police’s image among the community. Moreover, since the police department is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Interior run by Ismail Yare, a zealot UDUB loyalist, many in our society view the national police force as a tool in the hands of the ruling party designed to suppress the anti-government elements. In fact, I can confidently say that our police department today is a politicized institution which is better prepared to go after the supporters of opposition parties than to fulfill it is fundamental duty of ensuring the safety and the security of the community it serves.
A Possible Solution: Localizing Police Departments
To rectify the current system, I would propose the creation of an independent city police departments run by a police chiefs, appointed by respective city mayors subject to the confirmation of city councils. Following are the merits and advantages of the proposed police force over the existing one:
Freedom from Pressure by the Politicians and other Interest Groups:
Since new police departments will be run by city councils in which all political parties are represented, it is unlikely that one party will use the police as a political tool to harass other parties. This would enable the police departments to concentrate on its primary duty of law enforcement and crime fighting . Moreover, the police will become a professional institution, which fulfills its responsibility free from political influence. Furthermore, because of the more democratic nature of the local administrations of the cities, these new local police forces will be held responsible to local populations, which can either reduce their budgets or even change its leadership or both depending on their performance.
Trust and Cooperation from the Community
Naturally, people will feel sense of ownership when they know that their police department is run by their elected city council. Take the example of Burao, a city that has the reputation of being the stronghold of any opposition to any government, be that of Tuur, Egal or Riyale. Regardless of who is in power in Hargeisa, the people of Burao will respect and cooperate with their police when they know that their police department is none but their own, funded by their own shillings and run by their elected city council. The community is the ears and eyes of the police provided that people have confidence in the police. Handing over the ownership of the police department to the community serves the first step of establishing a professional police department, free from political manipulations.
Healthy Competition Among Cities
With the right to run a police department comes the city’s responsibility to ensure the safety and the security of residents under its jurisdiction. This creates a healthy competition between cities. For instance, the less the crime rate of a city, the more attractive it becomes to citizens, professionals, industries, businesses, Governmental and Non Governmental Organizations to settle and operate in that city.
How to Implement?
We have a moral imperative to remedy the current defunct police system in our country. Our task starts with enacting new laws that establish and regulate efficient police forces throughout the country. Therefore, the parliament should move quickly and pass new legislation or make the necessary amendments in the current police regulations in the country in order to enable each city to have its own police department. The new enactment should state clearly that the role of the central government is limited to: providing funds, training and imposing national standards as appropriate and as requested by local officials, providing national laws for enforcement by local officials and serving as a guarantor that local authorities adhere to and implement the local and national standards properly . In addition, both houses of the parliament should form their own ‘Government Reform Committees’ that undertake a comprehensive review of the national laws that govern the law enforcement agencies, seek feedback from the communities and non-governmental groups and work on a complete overhaul and de-centralization process in which many functions of central government are transferred to locally elected city governments.
The Funding
The central government should fund city police departments through the city taxes collected by central revenue agency. Then, each city could support its policy department with additional taxes and other supports.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives