Resource constraint and policy in Liberia's post-conflict policing

The paper investigates to what extent the inadequacies of the Liberia police can be attributed to state resource constraint. It concludes that policing policies by the government and the UN Mission to Liberia (UNMIL) have exacerbated the difficulties. The policies ignore a multi-layered approach that would utilise the resources of commercial, community-based, and customary policing. Further, policing effectiveness has been undermined by duplication; inadequate vetting processes; an absence of robust disciplinary processes; and a culture that is reactive, secretive, and reluctant to take initiative. Resource constraint should be allowed for, not as an excuse for bad policing, but as a reality that shapes appropriate policing policies.