Written on November 16, 2009 at 3:28 pm by

Iraqi Police Make Strides Toward Independence

Filed under Bloggers Roundtable {2 comments}

As the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq advances, efforts to help Iraqi police build their own independent force have made tremendous progress.  During a Nov. 13 DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable, Brig. Gen. Michael Smith, Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission-Police explained how the force is structured at federal and provincial levels and described their recent achievements.

These include graduating the first class of 50 Iraqi policewomen – bringing the total number of federal officers to more than 40,000.  There are now some 300,000 Iraqi police throughout the nation.  That number includes Kurdish areas and Smith says Kurdish and Baghdad based ministries overseeing police are working well together.  Smith also said that there is a unity in federal police ranks that dissipates old tensions between people of Shia and Sunni ethnic heritages.  He added that his assistance team is currently training Iraqi police in the collection of forensic evidence at crime scenes and in analytic techniques including the use of DNA.

To read the related article, click here.

To listen to the interview, click here.

To read a transcript from this interview, click here.

Check out these other posts:

Administrator tagged this post with: , , , Read 517 articles by
  • Clayton F

    After reading your blog and attached articles several things leave an uneasy feeling for me. The first piece of information that seems lacking is the exact number of Police Officers operating in Iraq. I have heard many concerns that the number of police officers serving in the country has been inflated so that local officials can receive more national funding. It would seem that Petty Officer Shelby has done little to dispel of this criticism. I would fear that we are using less than accurate information to dictate our drawdown policies. It should be our goal to leave a stable state, not just to get the heck out of the country, otherwise we will find ourselves forced to return and clean up again.
    I fear that we are rushing to leave a country that we do not know how to fully stabilize. If we remove our support without a fully functional Iraqi Police force in place we will see the newly formed Iraqi government struggle greatly. I would simply advocate for a further research into the effectiveness of the Iraqi Police before we get too excited about their apparent successes.

    • jennifer.cragg

      Clayton, thanks for recently visiting DODLive.mil and for leaving your comment. I have forwarded your comment to Maj. Robert Owen, MNSTC-I who arranged for this Roundtable. I will post his reply shortly. V/r, Lt. Jennifer Cragg

DoDLive on Tumblr

  • photo from Tumblr

    While flying over Colorado a B-2 Stealth Bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base, MO, moves into position for a mid-air refueling via the boom of a KC-135R Stratotanker from the 128th Air Refueling Wing, Milwaukee on 09 May, 2012. The B-2 Stealth bomber and the KC-135 crews conducted the aerial refueling to maintain mission readiness standards.

    U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt Jeremy M. Wilson (DVIDS)


  • photo from Tumblr

    Royal Canadian Mounted Police assigned to a Marine Security Emergency Response Team debark from the HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH 332) to conduct boarding operations during Exercise Frontier Sentinel 2012 May 8, 2012 at sea off Sydney, Nova Scotia. Exercise Frontier Sentinel is a combined interagency exercise involving Joint Task Force Atlantic, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Command. The exercise is designed to continue to develop and validate the existing plans, treaties and standard operation procedures for a bilateral response to maritime homeland defense and security threats.

    (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte / Released) (DVIDS)


  • photo from Tumblr

    Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians from the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, tread water during water training in Southwest Asia, May 7, 2012. Members of the EOD flight use water training as part of their physical training routine to stay in top physical condition and stay trained.

    (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sara Csurilla) (DVIDS)