Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Phoenix Base
APO AE 09348

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No. 091115-02
Nov. 15, 2009
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Iraqi Police Take Big Strides to Independence and Normal Operations

WASHINGTON – As the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq advances, efforts to help build the nation’s police force have made great strides, said the team leader of the Iraqi police training and advisory mission.

“The traction that we’re getting is really impressive; it truly is a partnership,” said U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Smith, director, Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission-Police, during a Nov. 13 “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable.

Iraqi police agencies have impressed Smith with their growing abilities to recruit and train their own forces and run their own operations. He also noted a dissipation of ethnic tension at top levels.

“The [federal] police have taken extensive measures to balance their force so that it’s not Shia [and] it’s not Sunni.  They’ve really installed quality leaders at all levels, that really take that seriously.  There is much more of an ethic and an ethos towards ‘protect and serve,” Smith said.

Smith noted the structure of Iraq’s police force differs from the United States. Local precincts report to provincial police, and both provincial and federal police fall under the Ministry of Interior. Smith said that thanks to growing stability, federal police are now able to concentrate on counterinsurgency operations and leave community policing in local hands. 

Smith also told bloggers of the distinction between regular policemen, who are called Shurta, and police officers. Officers undergo a rigorous three-year, post-high school training program that leads to a college degree and a commission as lieutenant in the Ministry of Interior. But even at the local level, Smith said, better vetting of the Shurta is paying off.

 “The system is pretty good now in terms of anybody that’s coming in that has a troubled past,  they really have improved the quality of their screening,” Smith said.

For now, the U.S. continues to provide support with transition teams composed of military police and some civilian police experts. They focus on teaching the latest forensic and analytic techniques, including collecting and using DNA evidence. U.S. assistance teams also work to improve acceptance of this type of evidence within the Iraqi justice system.

Smith cited more signs that Iraq is moving toward a fully-functional, independent police force. He said there are now more than 40,000 federal police and some 300,000 regular police officers and Shurta in service, a number of whom serve the Kurdish region of Iraq, where police authorities work in partnership with their Baghdad counterparts.

Smith noted this month’s graduation of the first officer class to include Iraqi policewomen. Smith said the 50 newest Iraqi police officers include attorneys, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists and other specialists who compose a “very impressive team of women [who] volunteered and wanted to become Iraqi police officers and to serve the people of Iraq.”

Smith added the next class with women is expected to double in size.

(Information courtesy Judith Snyderman, Defense Media Activity)

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