Iraqi Police

The Iraqi Police (IP) is the uniformed police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law in Iraq. Its organisation, structure and recruitment were guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it is commanded by the reformed Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. "IP" refers to the Iraqi Police, and "ISF" to the broader Iraqi security forces. The current commander of the Federal Police Forces is Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat.

The current Iraqi Police has some links with the pre-war Iraqi police service. The prewar police service was low in repression priority and was professional. Therefore, the police was expected to remain cohesive and be a useful instrument also after the invasion.

It was intended to form the basis for the police force of the new Iraq, but the civil disorder caused this project to be abandoned. Following the emergency stipend payment, some police came back especially in Baghdad and the U.S. Army military police conducted emergency training. At the same time, in the south the British forces began to establish local police forces in coordination with Shiite religious leaders.

In the north, Kurdish security forces did not experience any interruption, and in Mosul a thousand former police officers were hired by Major General David Petraeus in order to maintain the public order.

In the meanwhile, provisional authorities worked with the renewed Ministry of Interior in order to epurate Baathist officials (7,000 police officers fired by Bernard Kerik only in Baghdad) and to establish a police forces in short terms. In the first four months, the first training course was launched and over 4,000 officers were trained. In 2003 recruitment, applicants were mostly former soldiers and police officers who served under the Baathist rule. At the end of 2003, Iraqi Police formally totalled 50,000 officers.

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