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BAGHDAD, Iraq (February 7, 2008) - Iraqi police expansion in
Baghdad has reached an all-time high in the past six months, and
with new recruits filling the ranks, police forces are improving by
the day.
As 18th Military Police Brigade police transition teams assess
improvements with the numbers of Iraqi police officers and
rule-of-law operations at the station level, the brigade's soldiers
have begun a transition into a "systems approach" to move the Iraqi
police headquarters to the next level of performance in securing
the future of the Iraqi people.
Brigade officials call the new approach the enhanced police
transition team.
The 18th MP Brigade's EPTT is composed of staff representatives
from military police, logistics, communications and personnel
leaders who focus on sustainment operations for the Iraqi police
force in Baghdad.
"We are energizing the leadership to take responsibility and
support their stations," said Army Lt. Col. Thomas Lombardo, the
brigade's operations officer.
The brigade sends staff experts to the provincial Iraqi police
leadership in Baghdad to support efforts in improving their
sustainment systems. The new approach is under way not only at the
main provincial headquarters, but also at other levels such as the
criminal investigations department, provincial police patrol
headquarters and traffic headquarters.
"We are sending individuals with the right skill sets to engage
the proper IP sections," said Lombardo, who has deployed with the
brigade to Baghdad twice.
The brigade is supporting Iraqi police logistics, personnel
management, maintenance, budget, operations, training, leadership
and judicial integration.
"You can have all these systems in place, but if you don't have
good leadership, none of these things will work. Leadership makes
things work," said Lombardo, who has worked directly with Iraqi
police leaders in Baghdad since the unit deployed from Germany in
October.
Lombardo said Iraqi police leaders are proactive and receptive
to the new approach their coalition counterparts are using.
"The stations here in Baghdad are good," Lombardo said. "We can
make them better if we can get the … leadership to take
responsibility of their stations and take charge."
Over the past month, the brigade staff has worked with all the
provincial levels of leadership in Baghdad to understand the Iraqi
police systems and see how the enhanced police transition team can
help improve methods of operation. The brigade sent staff experts
from each section of operations to the Iraqi police's higher
echelons to learn and assess the Iraqi systems.
"Iraqi police have grown in numbers; now their systems need to
grow to match their numbers," said Army 1st Lt. David Delong, a
communications officer who visited the Iraqi police station's
higher echelons in Baghdad recently to examine their communication
systems.
"The Iraqi police were very happy to have someone who knows
communications to come talk to them and lend some advice," Delong
said.
He added that he was impressed with their knowledge of their
communication systems, and they knew where they wanted to go with
their systems.
Internet communication is important and vital for passing
information among police stations and between the stations and
headquarters in Baghdad, Delong said. During his visit, he noted
problems in Internet connectivity among the police stations. "They
are now trying to fix those problems with our help," he said.
The teams are helping distribute communication supplies from the
Interior Ministry and set up contracts for Internet connectivity.
They also are starting to train the more experienced communications
personnel at the police stations so they can train other officers
in using the communication equipment.
Army Master Sgt. Thomas Francis, the brigade's maintenance
supervisor, recently spent several days observing the Iraqi police
maintenance system at the central maintenance facility in
Baghdad.
"The (Iraqi police) have a good system in place," said Francis,
who has been working in maintenance facilities for 20 years. "The
IP work (well) with what they have. They are very organized and
have good accountability of their parts, which they often recycle
to get the most out of their equipment."
The team plans on helping procure modern equipment for the Iraqi
police mechanics and training programs. It's also providing ideas
on how to spread mechanics out to the different organization levels
to capitalize on their experience and round out the force.
"There are a lot of mechanics in training, and once they
graduate, we will help them distribute the new mechanics to all
levels in Baghdad," Francis said.
The new mechanics and equipment will help speed up the recovery
process for damaged police vehicles, thus furthering mission
capability, Francis explained.
The enhanced police transition team approach is in its initial
stage, and brigade leaders believe the new systems approach is on
track. "I feel confident that we are going in the right direction,"
Lombardo said.
The strategy, he added, is a foundation for the future success
of the police in Baghdad.
"Enhanced PTT is a strategy to build on, and in the future, we
will hand this off to future brigades to continue," he said. "This
system helps us move to our end-state, in which (Iraqi police) move
to enforce the rule of law independently."
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