Combating terrorism, organized crime among UN police work, says top adviser

United Nations police units supporting peacekeeping missions worldwide not only play a key role in reforming and rebuilding national law enforcement agencies in post-conflict countries, but also have a significant hand in combating larger global threats, the world body’s police official said.

“The threats faced by the global community include not just international wars and conflicts but civil violence, organized crime and terrorism,” Police Adviser Andrew Hughes, who heads the Police Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), told a recent gathering of the UN’s top police officials.

“Law enforcement is a key element in facing many of these challenges to international peace and security and support to national policing services is essential for peace security, human rights, development and democracy,” added Mr. Hughes at the opening of the Fourth Police Commissioners and Senior Police Advisers Conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

Participants at the three-day conference, comprising of Police Commissioners (PCs) and Senior Police Advisors (SPAs) from 13 UN peacekeeping operations, shared information and strategies on how to improve host countries’ internal security systems.

Assistant-Secretary-General for the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), Dmitry Titov, told the gathering that although not all post-conflict challenges are resolved, “peacekeeping operations certainly can play a central role in reducing the likelihood of future conflicts and creating a framework in which normal sustainable development can resume.”

He added that the UN has helped to improve the lives of millions of people “living in or emerging from brutal and devastating conflicts,” which he described as a significant achievement, especially by the UN police components.

In a meeting with PCs and SPAs, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid tribute to them for their efforts in strengthening the ability of national security services to promote and protect basic security needs in their host countries.

In his address to the conference which ended yesterday, Assistant-Secretary-General for DPKO, Edmond Mulet, also underscored the importance of the increasingly complex work performed by PCs and SPAs in 18 peacekeeping operations deployed across five continents and 12 time zones.