US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE1597

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001597 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/WHA 
DS/DSS/ITA 
DSERCC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ASEC, HA, Haitian National Police 
SUBJECT: CIVPOL COMMISSIONER EXPRESSES FRUSTRATION WITH HNP 
COOPERATION 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Douglas Griffiths, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (C) Summary: CIVPOL Commissioner Dave Beer told PolOff and 
Embassy Police Advisor on June 2 that he had abandoned 
attempts at a "unified command" of MINUSTAH military and 
CIVPOL forces and had freed his Formed Police Units (FPUs) 
from static positions to focus on roving patrols. Beer also 
complained of continued difficulties in joint CIVPOL-Haitian 
National Police (HNP) deployment but expressed hope that the 
launch of the Model Station Program (MSP) in June would 
improve cooperation. Embassy Police Advisor summarized 
upcoming U.S.-funded HNP reform projects and requested that 
Beer assign a handful of CIVPOL officers to liaise with the 
Embassy throughout their implementation. Beer confirmed that 
he requested two additional FPUs and a total of 832 new 
(non-FPU) CIVPOL.  Beer said that neither he nor Deputy 
Commissioner Rene Senechal would be renewing their contracts. 
End summary. 
 
2. (C) Beer, clearly frustrated and fatigued, said that he 
was moving to redeploy his FPUs away from static checkpoint 
positions under MINUSTAH "unified command" and focus them 
instead on roving patrols. Beer also announced the formation 
of a tactical team of 40 Jordanian officers located near the 
airport that will be able to respond quickly to incidents in 
the capital. He said HNP Director General Leon Charles had 
identified 12 specially vetted SWAT members to work with the 
new tactical unit. The commissioner confirmed that he was 
requesting two additional FPUs (for a total of eight) that 
would allow him to have four units dedicated to 
Port-au-Prince (one unit each based in Delmas, Fort National, 
Airport and one swing unit), as well as current deployments 
in Cap Haitien, Hinche, Les Cayes, and Gonaives. But he 
admitted that he was unlikely to get more than 500 of the 
total 832 officers he requested and that rotations might 
actually leave CIVPOL with fewer people this fall than are 
here at present. 
 
3. (C) Beer explained that his plans for HNP deployment along 
with CIVPOL have been stymied for months. He said CIVPOL had 
drafted a detailed plan in March for HNP deployment by 
station and rank up through 2006. Despite professed agreement 
by the HNP, however, the plan has not been put into practice. 
He pointed to a few successes in joint operations (including 
a recent dragnet on May 29 that netted several arrests of 
alleged kidnappers, including one HNP collaborator), but said 
it remains difficult to get the HNP to conduct regular joint 
patrols with CIVPOL. Beer said, for example, that he has 
insisted that the Crowd Control Unit (CIMO) not be deployed 
without a CIVPOL escort, but the agreement is often ignored 
in practice. There are still incidents, Beer claimed, where 
Minister of Justice Gousse sends CIMO out on his direct 
order, circumventing Beer's controls. Beer said the May 22 
incident in Bel Aire in which a SWAT officer was killed was 
an example of Gousse's mischief. 
 
4. (C) Beer expressed cautious hope that the launch of the 
Model Station Program (MSP) and the CIVPOL-HNP Joint Command 
Center (JCC) might help jump-start cooperation with the HNP. 
CIVPOL had originally spent four months assembling a JCC with 
the Departmental Director of the West Department (DDO), but 
the DDO had suddenly scuttled the project and CIVPOL was now 
rebuilding from scratch. Likewise, a special MINUSTAH-HNP 
Joint Anti-Kidnapping Unit created recently and based at the 
DCPJ has already foundered, Beer said. He claimed that after 
a few days the HNP officers assigned stopped coming and 
stopped sharing information. The program has become, in 
effect, a "Parallel Anti-Kidnapping Unit" in which CIVPOL and 
HNP conduct investigations side-by-side but share little 
information. Beer suggested that corruption, even in these 
special units, was endemic and that Charles was unwilling or 
unable to discipline or arrest officers that everybody knows 
are corrupt and colluding with the kidnappers. Beer proposed 
the establishment of an Anti-Corruption unit administered by 
CIVPOL and a handful of polygraphed HNP that would interview 
and vet every HNP officer from the top down, expelling any 
officer that lied. 
 
5. (C) Embassy Police Advisor outlined U.S.-funded programs 
for FY05 totaling $14 million and requested CIVPOL assistance 
in implementing the array of projects. 
 
-- In-service training: The U.S. is spending $1.5m to retrain 
1200 current HNP officers. Beer reported that CIVPOL had 
already provided five-day "field training" sessions for 
roughly 150 officers and offered to appoint a liaison to 
assist the Embassy in creating the curriculum and 
implementing the program. 
 
-- Forensics: Embassy Police Advisor requested CIVPOL appoint 
an expert to oversee the $400,000 forensics program. Beer 
welcomed the proposal and said he could contribute further 
money to build a forensics unit. Police Advisor advised Beer 
that the ballistic test facilities were already complete and 
that Florida law enforcement groups were interested in 
assisting with the unit. 
 
-- Model Station Program: Initial MSP sites funded by FY04 
funds in Fort National, lower Delmas and Bicentenaire 
(downtown Port-au-Prince) were almost complete. The U.S. will 
fund $1.2m in FY05 for the MSP as well as another Police 
Advisor position to focus on collocation and deployment. Beer 
agreed to appoint a CIVPOL liaison dedicated to assisting the 
U.S. in implementing the MSP. 
 
-- Vetting: Embassy Police Advisor reminded Beer that the 
U.S. was phasing out its funding for the OAS administered 
vetting program and asked Beer to assign a manager to begin 
coordinating the handover of the program to CIVPOL over the 
next six months. 
 
Beer also told Embassy Police Advisor that CIVPOL had 
identified a "Donor Coordinator" for all HNP assistance that 
would work with post for the implementation of U.S.-funded 
HNP reform projects. 
 
6. (C) Comment: We have been equally frustrated with the 
HNP's inability to deliver on even the simplest of 
agreements. Although Leon Charles remains the best among an 
uncertain list of alternatives, he is not well served by his 
deputies and is not entirely in control of the police force. 
In addition, the HNP lacks the organizational discipline to 
put any plan into practice. We have enjoyed excellent 
relations with Beer and respect both his candor and his 
vision. We hope that by institutionalizing a handful of 
CIVPOL liaison positions to our programs, our cooperation for 
police reform will survive any uncertainty surrounding his 
replacement. End comment. 
 
FOLEY