Vandra Harris

Gendering Transnational Policing: Experiences of Australian Women in International Policing Operations

This article explores the issues encountered by Australian women police officers on international peace keeping and capacity-building deployments in Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The discussion draws upon the literature on transnational policing as well as on womens participation in domestic police forces. The women police interviewed for this research encountered challenges working with colleagues from both the host nation and other contributing forces. The most commonly reported difficulties, however, stemmed from the behaviour of some of their Australian colleagues. These experiences point to the risk that a small number of male Australian police are reverting to a macho culture on international missions. The symbolic as well as practical implications of any kind of ‘gender reversion’ are likely to be significant.

Out of step: multilateral police missions, culture and nation-building in Timor-Leste

Internationally, there is a current rising demand for police to participate in complex peace operations. Achieving multilateral ‘integrated missions’ has become a key objective for these operations. One of the key requirements for such operations is interoperability between police drawn from different countries. Australia has had police serve in multilateral and other kinds of missions in Timor-Leste since 1999. In this article, we draw on interviews with 64 Australian police officers who participated in different missions in Timor-Leste. Integrating the insights from cultural analysis, the paper explores the specific challenges of bringing together police from different nations to work effectively within these operations.

Police in the development space: Australia's international police capacity builders

Abstract International police now contribute the second largest proportion of personnel to peacekeeping missions after militaries. They are thus key contributors to post-conflict transitions in developing countries. In the past decade Australian police have played a major role in a range of international missions in the Asia-Pacific region, partially funded by Australias international development budget. Increasingly the Australian Federal Police, as Australias lead agency in this area, has explicitly adopted the development language of capacity building to describe a significant part of their role. This paper considers the contribution of Australian police to building or developing the capacity of new and/or re-formed police forces following conflict. It also examines the degree to which international police missions are able to contribute to broader development goals and achievements within these settings. In doing so, it engages with the question of ‘outsiders’ (non-development professionals) performing development work in the increasingly populated space of post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.

Trust, trustworthiness and trust-building in international policing missions:

Trust is widely accepted as being central to domestic police effectiveness and legitimacy. It facilitates dealings between the public and the police, and eases relationships between the individuals within police services. In this article, we argue that trust has an equally fundamental role in international policing missions, yet establishing trustworthy policing arrangements is even more difficult, for a variety of reasons. We examine a number of these reasons here. The data used is drawn from interviews with Australian police on international deployment in Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. As the data from case studies indicate, international policing missions often take place in countries with low levels of public trust in the police. For many in these countries, international interventions can be matters of ambivalence or even induce active resistance and resentment. Finding ways of cooperating and collaborating, if not trusting, are fundamental to achieving international policing mission objectives. The article therefore considers some ways in which these missions may minimize distrust and earn trust.

Prisoner futures: Sensing the signs of generativity

In recent years, a small but critically informed literature has emerged which points to the link between opportunities to engage in generative acts and desistance from crime. This paper outlines the nature and limits of generative moments (conceived as the philosophy or practice of caring in non-violent and durable ways for self, other and future) with regard to the incarceration of a group of young males interviewed since 2003. Specifically, it poses the question of who or what it has been possible for these young men to care about within and beyond custody and highlights some of the factors which undermine generative concerns and actions. In concluding, the paper offers several ideas for enhancing generative opportunities within custodial environments.

Sustainable Development Following Conflicts: The Critical Role of Security and Justice

The international community continues to take special interest in rebuilding nations following conflicts, but there is widespread concern about the sustainability of the changes arising from these interventions. This complex undertaking requires attention to multiple sectors, and the sustainability of any post-conflict reconstruction relies critically upon the strengthening of security and justice. Development is centrally concerned with creating and maintaining enabling environments, and these are undermined where there is instability or poor rule of law. The example of a large-scale intervention in Solomon Islands demonstrates that enhanced interaction between social, economic and security sectors is critical to sustainability. The divisions between these sectors must be transcended and priority given to security and justice in the early stages of intervention, to ensure durable change for vulnerable communities.

Integrating security, development and nation-building in Timor-Leste

Like other nations before it, Timor-Leste has become an emblem of the international communitys desire to help a nation in crisis, with massive investment in reconstruction and development. Such intense focus from international agencies and governments draws together significant expertise and finance in the face of the mammoth task of nation (re-)building. It also brings competing approaches, potential for exploitation and questions about what happens when this support is finally withdrawn or dramatically reduced.