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CIVPOL Diary: Foot Patrol With the Afghan National Police
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By Supt. Joe McAllister
Kandahar, Afghanistan — The past few weeks have been steady and hectic. I finally was able to get out on a foot patrol with the Afghan National Police (ANP) in the city. We introduced this months ago to them and it has taken off quite well. There are only two countries doing this – Canada and New Zealand.
Foot patrol in Afghanistan is much different than foot patrol in Whalley, Surrey. We start with a 45-minute briefing of all the areas we are visiting to ensure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, all communications are fully operational, and the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) is on standby for events. Then we (CivPol) brief the ANP on the purpose of the patrol, what we hope to accomplish with community interaction, and we explain how we will achieve success by having the population on the side of the police. The patrol lasts two hours, because in this heat, that’s all we can reasonably ask anyone to do.
Handing over the keys for the new sub-station 8, which Canada helped build and where Canadian police are now training the Afghan National Police.
click to enlarge
We bring along six to eight ANP, putting two out front and two in the back, so people see their own police first. I’m in the middle, along with the senior officer and a few of his men. I advise the ANP that they have to say hello to everyone we pass and ask three questions: how they are, if they feel safe in the city, and if there is anything the police can do for them today.
One ANP was so shy at first. He would only speak from a distance, but eventually he would walk up, shake people’s hands, play with kids and engage them in an actual conversation.
Along the way, we met young kids on summer break. We asked them if they were interested in someday joining the police or army to defend their country. We met old farmers herding goats and discussed the health of their animals and problems of irrigation that the PRT is working hard to solve. We met men sitting outside their houses who told us of people nearby who supported the Taliban.
About a block from the PRT we found a large field of marijuana. We kindly asked them to cut it down and destroy it as it would be bad for the children and was also illegal. All in all, it was a great patrol and I think the ANP got a fair amount out of it. We do these about two to three times per week along with many other tasks, but this is the one I enjoyed the most.
Later that week, I was up in Arghendab. This was the big battle ground that attracted a lot of attention and made the news. Now you would hardly know anything had gone on there. We held the weekly provincial security meeting there in the local "hotel" which was more of a building waiting to be finished. Beside the hotel was the new ANP HQ that was 90 per cent finished.
Later this week, we'll be putting the finishing touches on sub-station 8 in the city, including bringing in all the furniture and supplies. It’s a success story for our team who has overseen this from start to finish, including funding it, working with the Afghans to design it and now training them how to use it to their advantage.
We also recently saw the arrival of seven new CivPol who will be working on the programs at the Regional Training center, Focused District Development, mentoring at the Provincial HQ, and working at the PRT training center, in addition to the regular duties of assisting on Quick Reaction Forces and foot patrols.
I could probably go on, but its midnight and I have to pack and get organized to head home for a break.
Joe
