LocationsPolice Commanders gather in East Mosul to learn about the Model Police Station (MPS) initiative
Promoting people-centred Policing through Model Police Stations
February 8, 2024
Police Commanders from 12 Police Stations in Salah al-Din, Anbar, and Kirkuk gathered at Al-Thaqafa Police Station to learn about the Model Police Station initiative
Photo credit: UNDP 2023
On a chilly December morning, twelve Police Commanders from Police Stations in Salah al-Din, Anbar, and Kirkuk gathered in Mosul to learn about Model Police Stations.
The twelve gathered at Al-Thaqafa Model Police Station (MPS) in East Mosul – one of the six pioneering Model Police Stations selected by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, in close collaboration with UNDP, for the Model Police Station initiative.
The initiative – a collaboration between the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – focuses on establishing a people-centered, responsive, effective, and accessible police station that is accessible to all segments of the community including men, women, and young people. It focuses on enhanced crime management, improved police-community interactions, and inclusion of women in policing.
Nineveh Governorate Police Commander.
Photo credit: UNDP 2023
“The idea of a Model Police Station was groundbreaking and a new experience that has enabled us to offer more services to citizens,” Major General, Falah Mohammad Al-Jebour, the Nineveh Governorate Police commander said while welcoming the guests to the Al-Thaqafa MPS. He emphasized that the incorporation of a wide range of police services within the MPS, covering community policing, family and child protection, and juvenile sections, had improved the overall effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement services.
“We hope to extend this model to all the other Police Stations in the Governorate,” he added.
Colonel Ahmed Jasim Sulaiman, the Al Thaqafa Police Commander, (right) welcomes his fellow Commanders to the Police Station.
Photo credit: UNDP 2023
Echoing these sentiments was Thaqafa Police Commander, Colonel Ahmed Jasim Sulaiman, who highlighted the positive results they had achieved since the initiative began over a year ago.
“There has been a qualitative shift in the way we work – citizens can walk into the police station on any day and at any time to receive our services – our doors are always open,” he said.
The visiting commanders expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to learn and pledged to cooperate so that they would be able to transform their police stations into model ones.
“We are thankful for this invitation to learn, and we shall continue cooperating with our colleagues so that we can also transform the police stations in Salah al-Din into model police stations,” Col. Safi Hameed Al-Shamari, (pictured left) the Police commander for Telul Albaj Police Station/ Alshirqat Police Department in Salah al-Din Police said at the end of the visit.
There is also a notable engagement of female police officers – Asmma Hazim Hussein, a non-commissioned officer (pictured right) who was at Al Thaqafa during the visit expressed her delight in the success she had witnessed at the Station since the initiative started. She was particularly happy about the increased cooperation from the community which enabled them to resolve cases related to family issues faster.
Launched in 2021, the Model Police Station initiative covers six police stations in Baghdad, Basra, Fallujah Ramadi East, and West Mosul. The initiative’s goal is to support government efforts toward an improved security sector and improve trust between the police and the communities they serve.
“We thank the Minister of Interior and all the Officers who have collaborated and remain committed to modernising the Iraq security system enabling it to provide the best services to their citizens,” Mr. Nedal Rashdan, the UNDP Senior Police Advisor said during the visit to Al Thaqafa MPS.
This transformative initiative is implemented by UNDP with generous funding from the Governments of Denmark, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.
ENDS.
This transformative initiative is implemented by UNDP through its Security Sector Reform and Rule of Law Programme with generous funding from the Governments of Denmark, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.