Democratic Policing and Organizational Learning in UN Police Missions

The United Nations Police Force (UNPOL)
mission deals with the training, supervising,
reform and restructuring of host country police
forces. In 1996 the principles of democratic policing
(DP) were introduced by the UN as the framework to
guide UNPOL operations. This study examines the
implementation and practice of DP using the concept of
organizational learning (OL) across UNPOL missions at
the individual and organizational levels. Findings of this
study showed that UNPOL officers show strong support
for the principles of DP regardless of demographic or
professional factors such as age, education, mission,
or rank. Also, the officers who come from countries
contributing to these missions gain considerable
new knowledge about DP during missions, and this
knowledge changes their approach on policing. The study
concludes that the United Nations should direct specific
attention to OL as a strategy to implement DP in UNPOL
at the leadership level.