The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) Police component has developed guidelines to assist the Somali Police Force (SPF) in implementing community policing initiatives on combating crime.
Police advisors from ATMIS on Wednesday presented the new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for community policing to Somali Police commanders at the SPF headquarters in Mogadishu.
Under the UN Security Council Resolution 2628, ATMIS, through its police component is tasked with building the Somali Police institutional, infrastructure, and individual capacities. The development of the SOPs will support the rollout of community policing in Mogadishu and the federal member states.
ATMIS Deputy Coordinator of Police Reforms, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Alex Ndili, said the SOPs for community policing were developed jointly with the SPF community policing directorate.
“Crime prevention is the foundation on which the Standard Operating Procedures are anchored and this is important to nation building,” said SSP Ndili.
The SOPs outline the roles of various stakeholders in community policing, how to introduce community policing structures, formation of committees, and identifying community challenges.
The Somali Police Commissioner, Maj. Gen. Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijaar, thanked both ATMIS Police and the Somali Police Force for collaborating to develop SOPs.
“The government has decided to mobilise the people to stand up to Al-Shabaab. They are a cancer, and must be eradicated if we are to move forward economically, politically, or militarily,” said Maj. Gen. Abdi.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).
