Somaliland Police

The Somaliland Police (Somali: Booliska Somaliland, Arabic: شرطة صوماليلاند‎) is a body responsible for law enforcement in the Republic of Somaliland.

Somaliland Police Force
Ciidanka Bileyska Somaliland
قوة شرطة صوماليلاند
Logo of Somaliland Police
Agency overview
Formed1993
Preceding agency
Employees6500
Annual budget20mil
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSomaliland
Map of Somaliland Police Force's jurisdiction.
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersHargeisa
Sworn membersUnknown
Agency executive
UnitsSpecial Protection Unit (SPU
Rapid Response Unit (RRU) Somaliland Road Safety Force (SRSF)
Districts
Website
Official Facebook Page of the Somaliland Police Force Official website of the Somaliland Police Force

Overview
25th Police Anniversary Parade
Women in Somaliland Police Force.

The Somaliland Police falls under the Minister of Interior. It also works closely with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the military. The force was founded in 1993 out of the Somali National Movement (SNM) who liberated the country from the dictator Siyaad Bare‘s regime of Somalia.[1] It is divided according to each of Somaliland's administrative regions: Gabiley, Badhan, Salal, Saraar, Oodweyne, Maroodi Jeex, Sahil, Awdal, Togdheer, Xaysimo, Sanaag, Sool and Hawd. Each region has a police commandant and commissioned officers. The police are tasked with carrying out criminal investigation, patrolling, and traffic management. There is also a small number of anti-riot personnel. In addition, a British-trained Special Protection Unit (SPU) is tasked with the protection of leaders and foreign dignitaries.[2] In 2005, the armed forces and the police received 15 percent of the Somaliland budget. Most of this money went to salaries and allowances.[3]

The US State Department's 2010 Human Rights Reports in Somalia observed that the Somaliland Police were firmly under civilian control, had not committed any unlawful killings (including demonstrators), were not conducting arbitrarily or politically motivated arrests, and were not committing torture or rape (but were also not taking direction action against people who were). The report noted that the prisons were improving, due to UN supervision. Half of the 765 prisoners in the Mandheera Prison were detained on the orders of regional or district security committees.[4]

The Somaliland Police commissioner is General Mohamed Adan Saqadhi.[5] He replaced Abdillahi Fadal Iman.[6] The Deputy Police Commissioner of Somaliland is Abdirahman Liban.[7][8]

Departments

As of 2003, there were eight police stations and 24 police posts in Hargeisa.[9]

Hargeisa

  • Special Police Unit (SPU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).[7][10]
  • In spite of the Special Police Unite (SPU), the Somaliland government trained almost 70 soldiers as a Rapid Response Unit (RRU),[11] finishing training for a second team, almost 100 soldiers, on March 14, 2013. The Rapid Response Unit is trained for emergency responses, including terrorism acts, firing, first aid, and protecting.[12]

Since at least 2010, the UNDP has been working on reforming and training the Somaliland police force. In 2010 they were also making an effort to align/merge the maritime police with the civilian police.[13]

Line units

Due to lack of funds and an arms embargo on Somalia as a whole, the guns used by the Somaliland Police belong to the individual soldiers themselves. Before joining the army, both former combatants and new recruits, are required to report for an recruitment process with their guns. A similar process is observed in other disciplined forces, including the police.[14]

Establishments

Mandera or Mandeerha Academy[15]

Deployments
  • May 2008 - Simultaneous explosions in Hargeisa targeting the UNDP, the Somaliland Elections Commission, and the Ethiopian embassy, as well as Puntland administration offices in Bossasso, killed 20 persons and injured 37. On May 28, a Hargeisa regional court arraigned 11 suspects in the attack. In July the court acquitted nine of the suspects for lack of evidence and sentenced two others to a jail term of 18 months each for obstruction of justice. The court also delivered in absentia death sentences to five suspects who were on the run. On September 16, Somaliland security arrested after that freed by high court, one of the suspected masterminds who had already been sentenced to death by hanging; he remained in custody awaiting the implementation of this sentence.[4]
  • September 2009 - Somaliland authorities arrested and detained more than 100 persons, including several opposition leaders, after four persons were killed during demonstrations in Hargeisa.[4]
  • June 19, 2011 - Two "soldiers" killed in a bomb attack on a police station in Las Anod, Sool region.[16]
  • October 27, 2011 - Police condemned by National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) for beating a journalist in Hargeisa in broad daylight, allegedly for taking several pictures.[17]
  • November 27, 2011 - Commander of the Central Investigative Unit (CID) of Sool, Mohamud Mohamed Hirsi, is gunned down in Las Anod; his deputy, Arab Warsame, is also wounded.[18]

References
  1. Somaliland Police Law
  2. SOMALILAND: Police reveal 2010 annual crimes – surge in rape, murder Archived 2010-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Somali Joint Needs Assessment
  4. 2010 Human Rights Reports: Somalia
  5. Somaliland Police Ready To Deal Alshabaab With Iron Hands
  6. Silanyo does Meles and Rayale a favour Archived 2012-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Somaliland Police Armoury Rehabilitation Project
  8. SOMALILAND: Police arrest arsonists Archived 2011-11-23 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Hargeisa Municipality Statistical Abstract
  10. Pelton. "The Police of Somalia, Somaliland, Puntland".
  11. "Rapid Response Unit completes training in Somaliland". Sabahi Online. March 14, 2013.
  12. "Somaliland 100s of new RRU police Unit agents graduate+PICS". Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  13. Rights-Based Partnership Policing Reform Efforts Press Ahead as 300 More Officers Graduate Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Somaliland's Military is a Shadow of the Past
  15. Somaliland progresses towards police reform Archived 2012-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Bomb Blast Hits Las Anod Police Station
  17. "28 October 2011 Daily Media Roundup". SomaliaReport. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  18. Somaliland: Police commander gunned down again in Las Anod Archived 2011-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
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