UN Haiti Chief: Police Reform Crucial to Ensuring Peace and Stability

Above: MINUSTAH Chief Mariano Fernandez (UN Photo/Rick Bajornas)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti must reform its police force in order to ensure peace and stability, despite improvements in Haiti’s security in recent years, according to MINUSTAH Chief Mariano Fernandez.

Fernandez said this week that despite progress in the last eight years, the Haitian National Police needed to be strengthened and consolidated to fight organized crime, protect vulnerable groups and maintain public order.

The United Nations Security Council’s recent visit to Haiti in February made police reform a priority.

There are currently 10,106 officers in Haiti, almost three times the amount the country had in 2004.

“But for a country like Haiti, which has 10 million people, this is still insufficient,” he said.

Fernandez also said that despite progress on police training, it had been “slow to seriously advance” the development of Haiti’s national police.

The security situation could quickly deteriorate without a new Prime Minister, he said.

“Periods without a prime minister and a cabinet have been characterized by an increase in insecurity and an evident decrease in governmental management with a clear negative impact on development,” he said.