Making police work in the Palestinian territories more citizen-friendly and professional

06.08.2015 – As part of the process to build peace and security, GIZ is supporting the police in the Palestinian territories in forming closer ties with civil society.

Success in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will depend not least on whether the Palestinians can guarantee peace and security within their own territories. For this, they will need a functioning police force.

On behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working to enhance police capability in the Palestinian territories since 2011. Initially GIZ's work concentrated on building and equipping modern police stations in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior and the civil police. Also, a training station was erected in Jericho that is now in use for training young police officers.

Since 2013 the focus has been on improving police work across the board. For example, more than 100 standard policing measures have been defined. These include everyday tasks such as documenting a charge, conducting road patrols or ensuring children's safety on the way to school. However, the processes involved in larger-scale police operations, such as security for public events, have also been covered.

'The intention is to encourage the Palestinian police to see themselves as service providers for civil society,' says Hannes Lambrecht, who is responsible for the programme at GIZ. He places great importance on accessibility to citizens. 'It is important that people gain greater confidence in and respect for their security forces,' he explains, before describing the specific steps involved in getting the different groups to talk to each other. 'We have brought together police officers and civil society representatives, for example from sports clubs, women's organisations and small businesses.' The aim is a regular exchange of views that will build greater appreciation of what police work involves and help prevent crime in the long term.

A further eight police stations are currently under construction in the West Bank using funding from the European Union. The construction contracts are awarded exclusively to local building companies so that the funds flow directly into the regional economy. At the new stations, the police staff fulfil various functions, and these have been defined precisely for the first time with German support. One of these, for example, is a 'people's police officer' who acts as a direct point of contact for the local population. In this way, citizens and the police can contribute jointly to building peace and security in the Palestinian territories.