Turkey

A surge in violence has dashed plans for a negotiated end to the 27-year-old Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Kar­ke­rên Kurdistan, PKK) insurgency. Since Turkey’s elections in mid-June, clashes have killed more than 110 people, country-wide ethnic friction has hardened opinion, and the government has started bombing PKK bases and talking about an imminent ground offensive in northern Iraq.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/europe/turkey-cyprus/turkey/213-turkey-ending-the-pkk-insurgency.aspx 

Colombia

Crime & Violence Threaten Upcoming Local Elections

http://www.crisisgroupblogs.org/crimeandpolitics/2011/09/23/colombia%E2%80%99s-local-democracy-under-threat-from-armed-actors/#more-147

Pakistan

The "Articles" page of the Pakistan Journal of Criminology has links to various resources related to policing in Pakistan.

http://www.pakistansocietyofcriminology.com/pmc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=60 

India

2009 article -- Network of Militants Is Robust After Mumbai Siege By LYDIA POLGREEN and SOUAD MEKHENNET

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba has persisted, even flourished, since 10 recruits killed 163 people in a rampage through India's financial capital.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/world/asia/30mumbai.html?_r=1&th&emc=th 

France

2009 article -- French police dismantle migrant camp

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/world/europe/23france.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 

China

2009 article -- China Expands Armed Police Force Authority (Beijing China Daily)

China last week gave the armed police "force new duties and statutory authority to respond to security emergencies," reports the Xinhua News Agency. The new law "mandates the mobilization of the 660,000-strong [People's Armed Police Force] to deal with riots, disruptions, serious violent crimes, terrorist attacks and other emergencies.… officers will patrol China's municipalities, provincial and regional capitals during periods of unrest, and take responsibility for the security of major transport lines and important public facilities." The force "will also have a duty to assist other law enforcement forces in arrest, pursuit and escort operations." Its "troops can establish security checkpoints to examine all personnel and vehicles entering and departing an area under their authority," and its "personnel can interrogate suspicious persons and check their identification documents, belongings and vehicles."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-08/27/content_8625494.htm 

Canada

2009 article -- Policing at-risk communities (Toronto)

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/09/13/10867276-sun.html

Haiti

Keeping Haiti Safe: Police Reform
8 September
Kidnapping, urban gangs and unresolved killings form a trifecta of challenges to citizen safety that the four month-old Martelly administation must confront by speedily completing reforms to professionalise the Haitian National Police (HNP).

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/latin-america-caribbean/haiti/b026-keeping-haiti-safe-police-reform.aspx 

Scotland

Proposals to consolidate police in Scotland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14804184  

Puerto Rico

Police in Puerto Rico are accused of abuses in Justice Dept. report

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/08police.html?_r=1&ref=police 

Norway

Norway Massacre

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/7c025b82-b778-11e0-b95d-00144feabdc0.html?segid=20001&ftcamp=traffic/sem/us/google_p4p/indepth_norwaymassacre_norway+massacre_mkwid|2FvVImjQ_pcrid|14986979135/auddev

Switzerland

More Crime in Switzerland?

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Crime_rate_approaches_that_of_Europe.html?cid=31019266

Brazil

In Rough Slum, Brazil’s Police Try Soft Touch By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Years of hate and mistrust are thawing in some of Rio de Janeiro’s most violent slums, as officials have embarked on an ambitious plan to wrest control of them from ruthless drug gangs.

www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/world/americas/11brazil.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th  

Russia

Russia aims to reform corrupt police

'People are more afraid of the cops than they are afraid of criminals,' says one man who was badly beaten and left for dead at two officers' hands.

www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia-police-20110228,0,1561562,full.story

Egypt

Egypt Purges Mubarak-Era Police Officers

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Egypt's transitional military government announced the early retirement of more than 600 senior police officers Wednesday in an effort to mollify thousands of protesters.

 www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/world/middleeast/14egypt.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22 

United Kingdom

Local police forces across England and Wales will cut 34,100 officers and staff over the next four years; according to a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the staffing reductions will result in at least a 3 percent rise in crime; the U.K. Home Office has insisted that there is no link between a decline in the number of police officers and the crime rate; police forces across the country are struggling with budget cuts which is forcing them to reduce staffing size 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/21/police-cut-30000-officers-staff 

Mexico

New Crime Ritual in Mexico: Videotape Confessions Played on TV

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new media ritual has become a daily routine in Mexico: public confessions aired on television from edited video clips prepared by the police. The Washington Post says the sensational videotaped confessions have become the latest tactic employed by media-savvy officials trying to convince a skeptical electorate that authorities are not just arresting criminals, but criminals guilty of the crimes they are accused of. 

Fishy admissions of guilt, coerced and otherwise, have been a fixture of Mexico's troubled judicial system for decades, but the videotaped confessions take the ritual to a new level. In recent months, El Chango admitted he was the leader of La Familia cartel; El Pajaro said on camera he was responsible for a deadly grenade attack; El Mamito agreed he was the owner of five "narco tanks." "This is for the authorities, who want to show they are working hard and defeating the criminals. It is a publicity stunt," said lawyer Raul Cardenas Rioseco. 

Washington Post 8/29/11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/for-mexicos-criminals-made-for-tv-confessions/2011/08/25/gIQAk9fXmJ_story.html 

Libya

Security, law and order: How the new leaders deal with law and order will be essential in determining popular perceptions of their qualifications to run the country in the interim period. In the critical first days, the erstwhile rebel groups should fill the security vacuum left by the surrender or disappearance of the former regime's security forces. They should stop distributing arms to the population and instead begin collecting and securing them. They should integrate whatever viable elements of the former regime's security forces can be retained into a new structure led by commanders appointed and supervised by the interim ruling council. The disparate, mostly community-based rebel movements and their various leaders and commanders should take steps to protect and ensure the well-being of all Libyans, with special care for internally displaced people, Libyans and non-Libyans. Particular attention should be paid to protecting citizens of sub-Saharan nations who were swept up in the conflict, whether as hapless victims, paid mercenaries or misplaced migrants. There is also a risk that Libyans of Saharan or sub-Saharan African origin could be victimised by retributive or retaliatory actions. In this respect, every effort should be made to protect groups such as the Mashashia, the Twergha and other native Libyans from the country's centre and south.

 

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP - NEW MEDIA RELEASE 8/23/11