JSS SULEIKH — Thirteen Iraqi Policemen (IP), a mix of officers and senior sergeants, gathered here in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah District for their final training session, Nov. 26.
The men were preparing for a weapons familiarization course prior to graduating from the Iraqi Police Leadership Development Course taught by Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers.
“We [the 18th Military Police Brigade] felt that some of the IP stations in our area needed to have their leadership more developed,” said 1st Lt. Adam Fulton, who serves as a platoon leader in 3rd Platoon, 300th Military Police Company, currently attached to the 19th Military Police Battalion, 18th MP Brigade, MND-B.
Fulton and other Soldiers from his platoon taught the three-day course.
The MPs asked the local IP station commanders for a list of potential students; eight officers and eight senior sergeants were selected. Four students dropped out and were replaced by two other candidates. On the final day of the course, one student was dealing with a medical problem and could not attend.
“Iraqi Police before, in Saddam’s time, they did not work for local Iraqi nationals,” said Capt. Hussain Hawaysh, from the Qahira Police station in northeast Baghdad. “The Iraqi Police make security for Iraqi local nationals.
“The Iraqi Police had little formal training before the war, and the average officer relied on his gut instinct,” said Hawaysh, a 24-year veteran of the force.
The course consisted of classes in community policing, communication skills, leadership styles and theory, individual thinking, team building, motivation and discipline, weapons classes and proper management of crime scenes. Each lesson combined classroom and practical exercises.
While many of the subjects seem to be standard police practices in America, they are new to the Iraqis; community policing is one example.
“You need to meet with the community leaders; you have to listen to their problems, and then you have to work on trying to fix their problems,” said Fulton. “You cannot meet with the community and expect to gain their support.”
Until recently, the IPs stayed at checkpoints scattered throughout the city. This was viewed as a means to limit the movements of terrorists and other criminals. Now, as the violence has lessened, the goal is to build feelings of trust in the local citizens for their Police.
“They [the Soldiers] teach us how to make respect between the Iraqi local nationals and the Police officers,” said Hawaysh.
One way this trust is being built is through foot patrols. When a citizen approaches a patrol with a complaint, the officers are stopping to listen and trying to help.
“You have to do that for the people; it’s your job,” said Hawaysh.
The MPs are fine tuning, not totally changing, the way the IPs conduct their day-to-day operations.
“They have their way of doing things, and it works,” said Fulton, a native of Carthage, Tenn. “They have the basics, and we’re just trying to build upon that.”
The graduates will take the lessons and techniques they have learned and pass them on to their fellow police officers.
(By Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 4th Infantry Division)