Ottawa - April 8, 2009 - The RCMP has recently deployed a new contingent of police officers to the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), bringing the total number of Canadian police in that mission from 5 to 20.
Police officers from the Ottawa Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Halifax Regional Police and the RCMP left in early March to serve on a nine-month mission in the country, replacing the five who completed their mission in late February.
“A more robust Canadian police contribution will help us have a stronger, more sustained influence on the police of South Sudan,”said Superintendent Doug Coates, Director of the RCMP’s International Peace Operations Branch. “It will also help improve the quality of life and security for the citizens of Sudan.”
Canadian police involvement in international peace operations is based on the principle that deploying our police overseas makes our country safer too.
“Unstable societies offer ample opportunity for crime to flourish,”said Supt. Coates. “By helping police officers in these countries to better fight crime in their communities, our police officers may reduce the spread of that crime to our communities.”
The salaries of participating police officers are paid through the International Police Peace Operations Program rather than by individual police services. This ensures that public safety is not compromised by participation in the program. The RCMP operates the program on behalf of the Government of Canada.
About the mission
Canadian police have been serving with UNMIS since 2006. They work primarily on combined police-military-civilian teams at 25 sites throughout South Sudan, guiding, advising and mentoring the fledgling South Sudanese police.
The challenges of working with police in Sudan are daunting. After 40 years of civil conflict, South Sudan is only in the early stages of building its government infrastructure. Many South Sudanese officers have little police training, equipment or support.
“Our job is to give them the training and mentoring they need to gain the recognition and acceptance of their communities,”explained S/Sgt. Walter Boogaard, manager of IPOB’s Africa, Europe and Middle East Program. “Canadian police are very well respected for their values, fairness and work ethic. With our wealth of experience and positive attitude, we do make a difference.”
This contingent represents the branch’s fifth deployment of 2009, which marks the 20th anniversary of Canadian police contributions to international peace operations. Previous deployments of police officers to Afghanistan, Haiti, Ivory Coast and East Timor occurred in late January.
Throughout this anniversary year, the Canadian police community will highlight its deployments to peace operations in order to tell the story of how our contributions overseas make the world - and Canada - safer.
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