Creating a Somali Police Force

Tsegaye Baffa, senior researcher in the Nairobi office of the Institute for Security Studies, recently commented on the need to reshape the Somali police force to coincide with the goals of the Somali constitution.

He concluded that a new ethos of policing needs to be forged that embodies basic democratic values such as the rule of law, equality before the law, and accountability to both the public and the institutions that represent the public. He argued that police recruitment, training, leadership, remuneration, appraisal and promotion should be reshaped to promote professionalism and the institutionalization of democratic values. Finally, normative and structural frameworks that protect leaders and officers against interference should be established.

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