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What UN Police Do

Assistance to host-state police and other law enforcement agencies

United Nations Police Officers support the reform, restructuring and rebuilding of domestic police and other law enforcement agencies through training and advising. Direct assistance is also provided, often through trust funds, for the refurbishment of facilities and the procurement of vehicles, communication equipment and other law enforcement material. Such assistance has been provided in the past, for example, by the police components of peace operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo,  Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Indian Formed Police in Liberia (UNMIL) being deployed as back-up security.

Interim law enforcement

In some missions, United Nations Police Officers are directly responsible for all policing and other law enforcement functions and have a clear authority and responsibility for the maintenance of law and order. They are, among other things, entrusted with powers to arrest, detain and search. These responsibilities have historically been given as part of United Nations transitional administrations (as was the case in Kosovo and Timor-Leste).

Formed Police Units

A Formed Police Unit is a cohesive and trained team of 140 armed and well equipped (for crowd control) police officers. There has been a rapid growth in the number of Formed Police Units (FPUs) deployed in UN peacekeeping missions. FPUs are rapidly deployable, well equipped and trained to act as a cohesive body capable of responding to a wide range of contingencies. They are self-sufficient, able to operate in ‘high-risk’ environments and are deployed to accomplish policing duties such as crowd control rather than to respond to military threats. FPUs were first deployed to Kosovo and Timor-Leste in 1999, where the UN had full responsibility for enforcing the law and dealing with threats to public order. In these volatile situations, the UN also wanted to have a more robust and armed police capacity.

Protecting UN Personnel and Material

UNAMID Police Officer Sari Rautarinta, from Finland, promoting gender awareness in the Abushouk camp for Internally Displaced Persons. UN photo

United Nations police officers, particularly members of Formed Police Units, support host-state police and law enforcement agencies in the execution of their functions. They are not, however, considered as law enforcement officers under the legislation of the host country and their prerogatives are consequently limited: they may, however, stop, detain and search individuals in accordance with the mandate of the mission and specific directives issued by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. They also play a key role in the protection of United Nations personnel and facilities. Such security functions, in support of domestic law enforcement agencies, are currently performed by members of Formed Police Units assigned to the United Nations missions in the Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Liberia.