As hundreds of professionals from around the world debated the future of Security Sector Reform (SSR) online at Governance Village last week, the BBC concluded a five-part series on Nigerian police.

First off, let me say that the e-conference on SSR was lively and informative. I believe you can still read participants’ comments and daily summaries at www.ssrfuture.org. Participants, though coming from contrasting backgrounds, shared a common belief in the importance of basic human security for successful development. As Sergio Vieira de Mello was once quoted as saying, “Security is the first priority, and the second priority, and the third priority, and the fourth priority.”

Human security was understood in a broader sense than just freedom from harm. Security encompassed not only traditional security structures like the military and police, but also governance, justice and non-state institutions. Likewise, most agreed that security sector reform must be holistic to be successful: effective police must be complemented by credible judiciaries; outside support must be guided by local ownership; ‘civilian’ and ‘military’ outlooks must be given equal importance.

Following the discussion, I was left with more questions than answers. Challenges of sustainability, corruption, participation and coordination pervade. SSR is a domain whose parameters have yet to be concretely delineated. It cuts across traditional divides between development, military and private security circles. Yet if security reform is to be successful, these divisions must be grappled with – reading the online discussion offers a suitable starting point.

If you find the debate overly theoretical, lacking in particular examples, I refer you to this short series looking at the state of Nigerian police, notorious for corruption and abuses. Reforming the police in Nigeria presents a unique set of challenges – different from post-conflict environments like Iraq and Somalia, where institutions are still not solidified or conflict has not subsided.

While part two looks at the rise of vigilante neighbourhood protectors and efforts by international aid groups to engage with them, part four addresses the problem of police impunity and extrajudicial killings: “The police lack the capacity to properly investigate crimes, and because of the pressure from society to deal with violent criminals, they simply dispose of suspects without the encumbrance of trials.” I am reminded of scenes from my favourite television series, The Wire, in which the Baltimore Police are pressured to “fudge the stats” in order to reduce crime, rather than addressing root causes.

The fifth and final part tackles the question at the heart of it all: “Can Nigeria’s police be reformed?” The challenges identified were shared by the SSR e-conference participants:

• How to translate good policy into meaningful action.
• How to ingrain good governance in ex-military regimes – “turning [the police] from a force into a service."
• How to reform long-established institutions with deep-set hierarchies.

The most practicable solution seemed to be community policing. I came to the same conclusion when researching small arms and light weapons (SALW) policy in Southern Africa – indeed, season three of The Wire makes the same case in the context of inner city Baltimore. Police seems most effective when it is locally relevant, when the people know the laws, indeed when they know the policemen protecting them.

As with anything else worth addressing in this blog, there is no panacea, but community policing is the thought I’ve chosen to leave you with.

Guns on display at the Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa, January 2009.