10 observations from community policing in Sierra Leone

This Policy Brief presents 10 key observations on the effects of community policing in Sierra Leone, which became a key area of reform when civil war ended in the country in 2002. The Sierra Leone Police, with support from the UK in particular, began a process of setting up Local Policing Partnership Boards (LPPBs), community policing forums, across the country.

After almost 15 years of reform efforts, what role is there for the LPPBs? It is suggested that where they function it is because they have effectively integrated with already existing power structures at the local level, and because LPPB members gain personal power, prestige and sometimes financially from participating in community policing activities.

The Policy Brief is based on the report Community Policing in Sierra Leone – Local Policing Partnership Boards. For more information on the broader context in which community policing has been taken forward in Sierra Leone, please see the new book Securing Sierra Leone, 1997-2013: Defence, Diplomacy and Development in Action, which was published in December 2014.