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August 31, 2004
[Have an opinion about the issues discussed in this article?
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By Lisa Burgess,
Stars and Stripes European edition
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| Capt. Reggie Kornegay, a civil affairs officer
with the 478th Civil Affairs Battalion who is attached to the
1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment in Baghdad, goes over last-minute
preparations for the inaugural class of the Iraqi Police Leaders
Operational Assistance and Development Course with translator
Nora Issam. (Lisa Burgess / S&S) |
BAGHDAD — “To serve and protect” is the motto of police departments
across the United States. Most police officers take the position
as a moral duty, not just a job.
But in the 30 years Saddam
Hussein was in power, things were different for Iraqi police.
They had the financial outlook of many American waiters: Salary
was minimal; the real money was in tips.
Up to now, Iraqis seeking police assistance have been going to
the Americans with their complaints, according to a translator for
the 1st
Cavalry Division. “We tell them to go to the Iraqi police,”
he said, “and they say, ‘We do, but they won’t help us, and ask
us for money.’”
Capt. Reggie Kornegay, 33, who grew up on the streets of Harlem,
N.Y., is not judgmental about the Iraqi police’s former operating
techniques. He said he understands why police working under Saddam
did what they did.
“If the police were corrupt, it was because the entire system was
corrupt,” said Kornegay, a civilian police officer for seven years
and now a civil affairs officer with the 478th Civil Affairs Battalion.
He is currently attached to the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment
in Baghdad.
“You don’t blame individual officers if the leadership did not
instill” the service ethic, he said.
But in order to “establish the true legitimacy” of the Iraqi police
force, that has to change, he said. And now, “all the tools are
present” for a professional force, he said.
The coalition has invested millions of dollars in the new force.
In the past year, thousands of Iraqi police officers have undergone
coalition-sponsored training in the fundamentals of tactical police
work. Most have weapons and uniforms, and most police stations have
been rebuilt to provide protection against attack.
But something basic is still missing: “We need to instill the moral,
ethical and professional characteristics of a police department,”
said Kornegay, who has been assigned to training Iraqi police. “Anyone
will tell you it’s not there.
“Hell, the [Iraqi police] leaders will tell you it’s not there.”
That’s why Sunday morning at Forward Operating Base Headhunter,
20 Iraqi police patrol and section leaders sat in a makeshift classroom,
listening to trainers explain the curriculum for the new five-day
Iraqi Police Leaders Operational Assistance and Development Course.
The sessions will emphasize community policing, ethics and professional
standards of behavior.
The original six trainers for the course are Kornegay, two Iraqi
interpreters along with Spc. Sean Martin, Sgt. Melvin Slagle and
Staff Sgt. Kelsey Groff, all members of Company C, 1st Battalion,
153rd Infantry, of the Arkansas National Guard.
Kornegay hopes that what the staff is trying to teach the Iraqis
will make a big difference to the police force — and to Iraq
as a whole.
“When the Iraqi police can effectively operate and protect the
community, we will see a drastic change in the sentiments of the
people,” Kornegay said. “Professional policing saves lives.”
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