Guatemala: Crimebusters!

Security and justice have been prominent themes this week in Guatemala. On 9 July the International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) launched their new work-plan for 2012/13, its Head, Francisco Dall’Anese, flanked by Guatemala’s heads of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers, as he described how CICIG intends to continue tackling impunity. Then a day later, the European Union here announced €22million of support over the next 3-4 years to Guatemala’s security and justice sectors. The UK is financially supporting CICIG, and has provided 15% of the EU’s funds here too.

But while these efforts are Guatemala focussed, the UK is also supporting a regional approach to tackling insecurity. Back in March the UK funded police leadership training at the famous International Academy in Bramshill for senior police officers from Central America, including two Guatemalans.

Our guest blogger, Simon Stevenson, from the National Policing Improvement Agency at Bramshill, will explain more. In the meantime, some news hot of the press that UK funds will continue to support regional policing with the agreement today of further UK training later this year. Watch this space for info!

In the meantime, over to you Simon…

In March this year the International Academy delivered the first iteration of a leadership programme aimed at senior police officers from seven Central American countries. The programme was conceived as a vehicle for building senior leadership competency and developing stronger networks amongst senior leaders from the region. In addition it sought to build sustainable capacity within Central American police services in order to increase their effectiveness in tackling serious and organised criminality. The programme received funding support from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the full support of SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency).

Programme tutors witnessed a real shift in the ‘level’ of thinking of the majority of the participants from the operational to the strategic that was reflected in their ‘proposals for change’ which they developed immediately prior to their return to their home organisations. There was a palpable sense of cohesion amongst the participants and a real firm resolve to operationalise their learning within their home organisations.

A direct example of the impact of the programme is that the National Decision Making Model (NDM), has had a real resonance with participants, and we believe that it will gain widespread acceptance across the region – with a few tweaks to make it fit the local context. Several of the delegates have shared with us post-course their proposals to make local versions of the model part of mainstream policing. And as an added bonus, use of the model will naturally give Human Rights the proper impact on policing decisions within the region. Among many other ideas, participants also left with the plan of putting customs officers into mail sorting offices which should help to reduce the flow of packages containing cocaine into the UK.

Indirectly, the program has increased the effectiveness of regional networking and we believe raised the profile of UK policing within the region. Our sponsors, the FCO and SOCA are very satisfied with the programme outcomes and tentative plans are in place to build on this work with future training.

Thanks, Simon.

Remember that you can follow our work in Guatemala and Honduras on this blog, via our website and Facebook page, and also on Twitter.

And we welcome your comments!