A standardised police roster system is critical for the African Standby Force

This policy brief outlines the proposed features and specifications of a standardised police roster system.

Contemporary peacekeeping operations necessitate an extensive range of expertise, and meeting the demand for police officers with the requisite expertise for the increasingly complex mandates of peacekeeping has become a great challenge. Consequently, the demand for enhanced systems to facilitate the recruitment and selection of police experts has also increased. Hence, it is of a high priority to establish and operationalise effective roster systems that ensure easy identification and rapid deployment of suitable police personnel.

With the aim to inform and assist in the establishment and operationalisation of a standardised and integrated police roster system, this policy brief outlines the proposed features and specifications of such a system. It also provides insights into the system’s establishment, operationalisation and management processes.

The proposed African Standby Force police roster system covered in this Policy Brief is also discussed in more detail in an ISS Paper.

About the author

Tsegaye D. Baffa is a senior researcher in the Conflict Management and Peacebuilding Division of the ISS. He is a former assistant commissioner in the Ethiopian police and has the experience of developing a somewhat similar database system. He is a doctoral candidate at the School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa.