The Iraqi criminal justice system is weak, and the U.S. training
mission has been hindered by a lack of clarity and capacity. It has
not always been clear who is in charge of the police training mission,
and the U.S. military lacks expertise in certain areas pertaining to
police and the rule of law. The United States has been more successful
in training the Iraqi Army than it has the police. The U.S. Department
of Justice has the expertise and capacity to carry out the police
training mission. The U.S. Department of Defense is already bearing
too much of the burden in Iraq. Meanwhile, the pool of expertise in
the United States on policing and the rule of law has been
underutilized.
The United States should adjust its training mission in Iraq to match
the recommended changes in the Iraqi government--the movement of the
National and Border Police to the Ministry of Defense and the new
emphasis on the Iraqi Police Service within the Ministry of the
Interior. To reflect the reorganization, the Department of Defense
would continue to train the Iraqi National and Border Police, and the
Department of Justice would become responsible for training the Iraqi
Police Service.
RECOMMENDATION 55: The U.S. Department of Defense should continue its
mission to train the Iraqi National Police and the Iraqi Border
Police, which should be placed within the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.
RECOMMENDATION 56: The U.S. Department of Justice should direct the
training mission of the police forces remaining under the Ministry of
the Interior.
RECOMMENDATION 57: Just as U.S. military training teams are imbedded
within Iraqi Army units, the current practice of imbedding U.S. police
trainers should be expanded and the numbers of civilian training
officers increased so that teams can cover all levels of the Iraqi
Police Service, including local police stations. These trainers should
be obtained from among experienced civilian police executives and
supervisors from around the world. These officers would replace the
military police personnel currently assigned to training teams.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has provided personnel to train
the Criminal Investigation Division in the Ministry of the Interior,
which handles major crimes. The FBI has also fielded a large team
within Iraq for counterterrorism activities.
Building on this experience, the training programs should be expanded
and should include the development of forensic investigation training
and facilities that could apply scientific and technical investigative
methods to counterterrorism as well as to ordinary criminal activity.
RECOMMENDATION 58: The FBI should expand its investigative and
forensic training and facilities within Iraq, to include coverage of
terrorism as well as criminal activity.
One of the major deficiencies of the Iraqi Police Service is its lack
of equipment, particularly in the area of communications and motor
transport.
RECOMMENDATION 59: The Iraqi government should provide funds to expand
and upgrade communications equipment and motor vehicles for the Iraqi
Police Service.
The Department of Justice is also better suited than the Department of
Defense to carry out the mission of reforming Iraq's Ministry of the
Interior and Iraq's judicial system. Iraq needs more than training for
cops on the beat: it needs courts, trained prosecutors and
investigators, and the ability to protect Iraqi judicial officials.
RECOMMENDATION 60: The U.S. Department of Justice should lead the work
of organizational transformation in the Ministry of the Interior. This
approach must involve Iraqi officials, starting at senior levels and
moving down, to create a strategic plan and work out standard
administrative procedures, codes of conduct, and operational measures
that Iraqis will accept and use. These plans must be drawn up in
partnership.
RECOMMENDATION 61: Programs led by the U.S. Department of Justice to
establish courts; to train judges, prosecutors, and investigators; and
to create institutions and practices to fight corruption must be
strongly supported and funded. New and refurbished courthouses with
improved physical security, secure housing for judges and judicial
staff, witness protection facilities, and a new Iraqi Marshals Service
are essential parts of a secure and functioning system of justice.