CIVPOL Diary: Full steam ahead with the ANP

By Supt. Joe McAllister

Afghanistan — Another few weeks have passed and the heat has definitely been turned on, in more ways than one.

Last week I was out with the deputy commander inspecting the new police headquarters in Panjwayi. It is situated just outside the main drag of Panjwayi alongside a nice mountain range with orchards and fields in the distance. We built this beside the new District HQ and we will also be adding a Joint District Coordination Centre (,JDCC). This will bring all the Afghan National Security Forces under one roof to respond to incidents. These are usually led by police and military mentors who coach the Afghan National Security Forces on how to work together. The idea is to bring as many of the Afghan agencies close to where we are, so we can assist in development, governance and security (the three pillars).

Here’s why it’s important: A few weeks ago in Zhari, one group of Afghan National Police (ANP) who were guarding the road came under fire. Before the mentors could organize the ANP, they had rushed down the road to the rescue. You can't blame them when their guys are calling for help. This is the police version of 10-33 and we all respond the same way when one of our own is in trouble. Once they got there, they expended most of their ammo firing into the fields with little result. The insurgents meanwhile flanked the ANP and ambushed them on the way back. The end result was five ANP killed and several wounded. It̓s these types of events where we are trying hard to mentor and coach them on how to be more organized, but they are paying a hard price. When I did my tour of the new police HQ, I suggested we build a range and classroom so that Civpol along with the military’s Police Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams can continue to train the ANP in various areas, such as firearms, but also Rule of Law, as they capture many insurgents and have to present a case in court. Our guys mentor in these areas and it has been working well. We also supply appropriate equipment for the ANP to do their job, such as cameras, tape recorders, notebooks, computers, office furniture and more.

Sadly, the month of April saw over 150 ANP killed across the country, 180 wounded and five missing in action. This shows how badly they need training and mentoring. Unfortunately these types of events often overshadow much of the good being done here so, I always try to emphasize the positive when I can.

We have over 80,000 registered police now and we are working on training and mentoring all of them. They are getting better equipment and better training and over 75 per cent are paid by direct deposit which is a huge improvement. When I got here, over 75 per cent were not getting paid on time or encountering problems along the pay route.

Our police team is still working hard doing foot patrols, responding to calls in the city to back up the ANP, mentoring various leaders, teaching classes at our new school house and writing reports which is just normal police work.

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We are anticipating the arrival of more Civpol in early July, which coincides with the rollout of Focused District Development in the city. Four of the ten ANP precincts have been in for training and will be ready for focused mentoring. We send in the remaining six precincts and two outlying districts which will come back in September. From there on, we are full steam ahead to make the city a better, safer place to live.

Hope all is well back home. Keep in touch.

Joe