Police-Military Cooperation in Foreign Interventions: Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands (From International Police Cooperation: Emerging Issues, Theory and Practice, P 221-237, 2010, Frederic Lemieux, ed. - See NCJ-230937)

• NCJ Number: 230948
• Author(s): Andrew Goldsmith; Vandra Harris
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter examines how Australian police were deployed in Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands between 2003 and 2008, with attention to how the police dealt with Australian military forces and outside military entities, mainly United Nations missions.

Abstract

These situations involved deteriorations of order to significant levels of violence and civil disorder in the context of international operations that involved Australian police officers. In such zones of "anything but normal" policing (Goldsmith, 2009), police may suddenly need to rely upon military force or may find it necessary to use military-style techniques and equipment for reasons and under conditions that are not likely to occur in their home environments. Given the short history of police-military cooperation in peacekeeping and nation-building, it should be expected that there are areas that require improved training, communication, and coordination. One of these areas is the sharing of intelligence. In peacekeeping zones, the military typically have more capability for collecting and analyzing intelligence. This intelligence should be shared with police managers for the purposes of predeployment training and briefings, as well as in the course of executing operations. Although the Australian military was effective in providing protection for the police on missions, several of the police interviewed felt they would have been safer and more effective if they had greater access to the intelligence the military had collected. Another area that requires attention is the mutual understanding of the tactical differences and distinctive purposes that distinguish military and police patrolling during periods of instability. Differences in the application of force should be an important issue in the respective roles of police and military in patrol operations. The findings reported in this chapter drew upon data from interviews with Australian police personnel who were involved in peacekeeping operations in Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands. 5 notes