Saudi Arabia Police - Term Paper Example

Introduction: The internship program was undertaken at the Saudi Arabian police department. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, and the government as well as the state is headed by a King (Bishr, 2008). The legitimacy of the government is based on the interpretation of the Sharia law, and the Basic law of 1992 which denotes that the rulers of the Kingdom will be male descendants of the founder of the Kingdom, that is King Abdulaziz Al Saud. The Basic Laws of 1992 is able to set out the style of governance, duties and powers of the government (Bishr, 2008). Furthermore, these Basic Laws of 1992 denote that the traditions of Sunna and the Quran constitute the constitution of the country. The police department of Saudi Arabia plays a very important role in ensuring that there is law and order within the Kingdom. The police department in Saudi Arabia is under the ministry of Interior. The Saudi-Arabian police is divided into three major forces, namely the religious police, the regular police, and the secret police. The official name of regular police is referred to as the department of public safety. It is this department that is responsible for handling the day to day activities of the police force, and this includes arresting suspected criminals, carrying out investigative work, receiving and following up on complaints, etc (Bishr, 2008). This department is greatly centralized, and an individual who heads this department must come from the royal family. The Mabahith is also referred to as the secret police. This unit of the police force mainly deals with counter-intelligence as well as domestic security. The Mabahith runs a prison facility in Riyadh, referred to as Ulaysha Prison. Al-Atawneh (2009) explains that on numerous occasions, the Mabahith has been accused of arbitrary arresting suspects, and detaining them at the Ulaysha Prison facility, without trial. Another type of police is referred to as the Mutawa, or the religious police. This police is responsible for promoting good virtues in Saudi Arabia, and preventing the emergence of immoral activities. On this basis, their main responsibility is to enforce the moral codes of Islamic behavior. Al-Atawneh (2009) explains that there are about 20,000 people who are employed as religious police in Saudi Arabia, but they are not trained in law enforcement activity. It is the responsibility of the Mutawa to make sure that there is the separation of sexes in the public sphere; women are not driving cars, pressuring women to have and wear their traditional dresses, and ensuring that businesses are able to close at prayer time. On this note, Alrabaa (2010) explains that the main role of the Mutawa is to ensure that there is a strict implementation of Islamic laws in the country, and that people live by the principles established by the Quran. In enforcing the religious laws, the Mutawa are always accompanied by the escort of the regular police, and they have powers to arrest, as well as detain the violators of Islamic laws. Since 2002, the work of the Mutawa has undergone serious criticism. This is mainly because they were accused for being responsible for the death of 15 school girls, in Mecca, when fire broke out at their school. Al-Atawneh (2009) explains that Mutawa were accused of preventing male rescuers from entering into the school because the girls did not wear veils. Bishr (2008) explains that there are around 135,000 paramilitary police officers in Saudi Arabia. These people are highly equipped, and well trained, and they possess the latest weapons and technology aimed at protecting the citizens of Saudi-Arabia. It is important to understand that they are always assigned to offices of provincial governors, and they are answerable to the minister of interior, who is a member of the Saudi-Royal family (Janin and Besheer, 2003). The members of the Saudi-Arabian police force are trained in the King Fahd College of security studies, which is situated in Riyadh. Another college responsible for training police officer is referred to as a police academy and it is found in Mecca (Bishr, 2008). It is important to understand that within the Saudi-Arabian police force, there are specialized police units. These units normally undergo specialized training, and they are either formed to fight terrorism, or even fight some emerging complex security problems. For instance, there is the special emergency forces, who are responsible for fighting terrorism, especially Al-Qaeda networks in Saudi-Arabia (Janin and Besheer, 2003). Kurian (2006) explains that there are about 30,000 special emergency forces in Saudi-Arabia, and they are equipped with the latest security technological gadgets. There is also the special security force, and this unit is directly answerable to the minister of interior. Raphael (2009) explains that this unit is always deployed to tackle very complex and dangerous security operations. They are always armed with automatic guns, light armored vehicles, and chemical weapons that are not lethal. Kurian (2006) explains that it is very expensive to train this unit, and there are about 10,000 Special Forces in the Kingdom. In recruiting police officers, the recruitment is done all over Saudi-Arabia, and there are police directorates in the amirates of Saudi-Arabia, as well as the local areas. Kurian (2006) explains that provincial governors have autonomy over the operations and activities of police officers in their amirates. The Saudi Arabian police department is responsible for protecting all the citizens of Saudi Arabia; this is irrespective of their areas of residence. The department is also responsible for protecting foreigners working in Saudi-Arabia, and also protecting the legitimacy of the Kingdom. As an intern, I was situated at the regular police department. I was situated at the regular police headquarters in Riyadh. My duties involved recording complaints, and directing the complaints under consideration to the various offices that had the capability of solving them. Furthermore, my other responsibilities including clerical works such as taking a roll call on whoever attended duties, the weapons used, and the number of arrests made during the day. A specific policy/ protocol to change: The protocol that needs to be changed is the role of governors in controlling the police force. Theoretically, governors report directly to the minister who is in charge of interior. However, in practice, governors normally report directly to the King of the Saudi Arabia. Scholar explains that as of the year 1992, almost all governors of the Kingdom belonged to the royal family, and they were the sons, brothers or nephews of King Fahd (Bishr, 2008). These governors were able to maintain an administrative office in the principle cities of their amirates, even though none of these cities was declared a capital city. The principal responsibility of the governors was to oversee the works of the municipal and the central government. Al-Atawneh (2009) explains that another role of the governors is to act as the commanders of the police force operating in their amirates. They are also responsible for supervising the recruitment of local people into the security forces of the kingdom. Furthermore, to maintain security, the governors had the responsibility of holding a public majlis in their amirates on a daily basis. This is for the main purpose of hearing the views and the petitions of the local residents regarding their problems and security issues affecting the province (Janin and Besheer, 2003). It is important to denote that the monarch, the minister of interior, the National Guard commander, and the minister of defense have the responsibility of maintaining law and order in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the minister of interior has jurisdiction over all police departments, and internal security programs. Governors act as a link between the ministry of interior and their amirates while providing security services (Bishr, 2008). However, on most occasions, Governors would not report directly to the minister of interior, instead they would report to the king. This undermines the office of the interior, and the policies created by the ministry in protecting the citizens of Saudi Arabia. For efficiency in the provision of security within the state, there is a need of one security agency reporting on the state of the security within the country, as opposed to around 12 governors each reporting on the state of security in their amirates (Janin and Besheer, 2003). Chances are high that conflicting reports might emerge, and hence compromise the effectiveness in which police officers might carry out their mandate in the Kingdom. Furthermore, governors might mis-use without proper checks and balances, governors might mis-use the police system in their amirates, for purposes of achieving their own goals, as well as agenda. They may achieve this objective by trying to influence the police force into carrying out activities aimed at promoting their own self-interests, instead of promoting the overall security of the province. Al-Atawneh (2009) explains that another problem that emanates with the governors in command of the police officers in their emirates is the lack of uniformity in the application of security policies in Saudi-Arabia. For instance, the governor of Al Qasim may implement a security policy that is different from the one applied in the amirate of Al Madinah (Bishr, 2008). This may have an impact of compromising the overall security of Saudi-Arabia, since the policies developed by the ministry of interior will be ignored. Just as stated earlier, this is because governors always report directly to the king, even though the constitution requires them to report to the minister of interior. Furthermore, police officers will also be faced with a dilemma on the type of policy to follow (Raphael, 2009). This is because the ministry of interior is directly responsible for the operations of police officers. On this basis, it is the ministry of interior that develops policies that police officers should follow. However, because of the close proximity that governors have to the king, they may be tempted to develop policies that are parallel to the policy developed by the ministry of interior. Based on this fact, police officers might be unable to know which policy to follow, in case the policies issued by governors and the one that emanates from the ministry of interior contradict with each other. Bishr (2008) explains that giving direct command of the police force to a civilian is not an effective method of ensuring that there is security and effective enforcement of the law. Furthermore, governors are also accused of failing to do enough to control other departments of the police force, such as the religious police. This is because civilians are not knowledgeable on the operations of the police force, and hence they may mis-use the police unit. The religious police are always accused of arrogance, and violating the rights of the Saudis, in the name of implementing the sharia law (Raphael, 2009). Based on the weaknesses derived from this protocol/policy, then there is a need of changing the command structure of police officers, so that they may be directly answerable to the provincial police officer, who is not answerable to the governor, but the minister of interior. On this note, policies regarding security should only emanate from the minister of interior, to the various police commanders who should implement such a policy (Janin and Besheer, 2003). This would ensure uniformity in the application of security policies, and laws touching on security in all the amirates of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, this policy would make governors to concentrate on developing their amirates or provinces. This is because they would no longer worry about security issues, as this would be the worry of the provincial police commander (Janin and Besheer, 2003). Furthermore, when the command of police officers is given to a career police officer, he is well aware of the operations and needs of officers, and this will make them effective in ensuring that law and order is maintained in the emirates. This is as opposed to giving the command of police officers to governors, who on most occasions belong to the royal family, and some of them do not have the knowledge on the operations of police officers. On this basis, restructuring the police force, in a manner that it is only a police officer who has command of the provincial units will make the police department to be very effective in maintaining law and order in Saudi Arabia (Raphael, 2009). Changes to Make, and the Process of Making the Changes: As stated earlier, there is a need of restructuring the command system of the police into one regional or provincial commander who is not a civilian, or a governor. To achieve this objective, there is a need of amending the Basic laws of Saudi Arabia to provide for a more well organized and effective police force that operates in the Kingdom (Raphaeli, 2005). It is first important for the state to carry out an assessment on the security needs of the citizens of Saudi-Arabia (Hegghammer, 2010). This is by involving its citizens by asking them of their opinions regarding the manner in which the security system of Saudi-Arabia should be reformed. It is important to denote that the security system of a state can only be achieved when the public is involved or cooperates with security organizations in identifying the various security problems that needs to be addressed. Security should not only be left to police commanders (Hegghammer, 2010). This is because it can be overwhelming, and they need people who can offer unbiased opinion on how to better improve the security system of the state, or a particular province. In this process also, there is a need of seeking the opinions of senior as well as junior police officers. This is because the people who are responsible for maintaining law and order are the police force (Hegghammer, 2010). Getting their opinion in the reformation process of the police force is essential, as it would ensure that they have a high morale in performing their duties. Hegghammer (2010) explains that when it comes to the command structure of the police force, civilians and the police will have different views. The likely view of the civilians is that the police force should be under the command of a civilian. On the other hand, the likely view of the police officers is that the police force should be under the command of experienced police officers. These two are conflicting suggestions that are likely to emerge during this process of collecting information from the civilians (Hegghammer, 2010). On this basis, with the need of satisfying the two parties involved in this process, there is a need of restricting the police force in a manner that the suggestions of these two groups of people are implemented. It is important to denote that the recommended command structure of the regional police force is for a police officer to command the police officers (Hegghammer, 2010). However, to check on his powers, there is a need of developing a civilian over sight committee that is responsible for investigating the exercises of the police officers, and giving them prosecutorial powers to prosecute police officers who are accused of breaching the human rights of the citizens of Saudi Arabia (Alrabaa, 2010). It is important to denote that in well established democracy, police oversight bodies have been greatly used to improve the security of the states. For instance, in United States of America, various municipalities in the state have civilian oversight bodies whose role is to review the performances of police officers and give recommendations on how to improve these performances (Alrabaa, 2010). These civilian oversight bodies have the powers to bring a complaint against a police officer, who is accused of breaching the rights of its citizens, or the laws that guide the operations of a police officer (Hegghammer, 2010). On this basis, the control of police officers is under the hands of civilians, in as much as the police officers are commanded by a fellow police officer. This style of police governance is also practiced in European countries such as United Kingdom, which has a monarch, Australia, and in some African countries such as Kenya (Hegghammer, 2010). Initiating such kind of a police command system in Saudi Arabia will therefore mean that the actual people who are controlling the operations of the police force are the civilians, but under the leadership of a police officer. Furthermore, in developing the changes, it is important to highlight the role of governors in promoting security within their amirates. Governors should only have the capability of directing the police commanders only on issues regarding policy, but not investigations, or making of arrests, or the manner in which they need to carry out their affairs (Alrabaa, 2010). This would ensure that governors and police officers are able to cooperate with each for purposes of ensuring that there is law and order in Saudi Arabia. It is important to understand that when these policies are initiated, the interests of three major groups of people will be catered for. That is the administrators under the leadership of the governors, the citizens, and members of the police force. After making these recommendations, it is then important to notify the ministry of interior, who in turn have to seek the approval of the king. This is because the king is the head of the state, as well as the head of the government. It is important to understand that for these changes to occur there must be a political will. As the custodian of the Saudi Arabian politics, gaining approval from the king would automatically ensure a successful implementation of the changes (Alrabaa, 2010). On this basis, it is his responsibility to ensure that the security needs of the citizens of Saudi-Arabia are well catered for. Conclusion: In conclusion, it is important to understand that the king, the minister of interior, the defense minister, and the commander in charge of the National Guard are the people who have the responsibility of enforcing and maintaining law and order in the kingdom. The ministry of interior is responsible for exercising a control over every internal security issues, as well as the command of the police force. This is always exercised through the governors, who by law, need to report to the minister of interior, but by practice, they normally report to the King. Saudi Arabia also has a security unit referred to as the General Intelligence Presidency. This unit is responsible for gathering intelligence information from outside of Saudi Arabia, and it always reports to the King. Furthermore, it is important to understand that the civil police, who are the religious police, have the powers and authority of arresting and detaining anyone who is found to be breaching the laws of Islam. This is because the constitution of Saudi Arabia is based on the Quran. This religious police reports directly to the King, through the royal courts, and the minister of interior. Furthermore, people who belong to this unit of the religious police are mandated to carry an official identification card, while they are on duty. In case they intend to make an arrest, they must be accompanied by a trained regular police officer. It is important to denote that the religious police are not trained on the aspects of the police force, but they are recruited based on their roles in promoting the activities of Islam. On this basis, most people in Saudi Arabia call for the disbandment of the religious police, mainly because they are unable to effectively protect the human rights of the citizens of Saudi Arabia. This was witnessed in 2002, when 15 girls died in a school fire, because the religious police prevented male rescuers from entering the school, just because these girls did not wear veils. It is important to understand that there is a commission responsible for hearing grievances against police officers. This is called the Diwan Al Mazalim. However, this organization is not representative enough, because civilians are not given an opportunity to pick their representatives. On this note, it has not been effective in checking the excesses of police officers in Saudi Arabia. The Diwan Al Mazalim comprises of high ranking judicial officers, and it reports directly to the King. On this note, it only serves the interests of the King. References: Al-Atawneh, M. (2009). Is Saudi Arabia A Theocracy? Religion And Governance In Contemporary Saudi Arabia. Middle Eastern Studies, 45(5), 721-737. Alrabaa, S. (2010). Veiled atrocities: true stories of oppression in Saudi Arabia. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. Bishr, M. i. (2008). Religious police in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia: Ghainaa Publications. Hegghammer, T. (2010). Jihad in arabia. Gainesville: Cambridge University Press. Janin, H., & Besheer, M. (2003). Saudi Arabia (2nd ed.). New York: Benchmark Books. Kurian, G. T. (2006). World encyclopedia of police forces and correctional systems (2nd ed.). Detroit: Thomson Gale. Raphael, J. C. (2009). Mutawas: Saudi Arabia's dreaded religious police. Mumbai, India: Turtle Books. Raphaeli, N. (2005). Demands For Reforms In Saudi Arabia. Middle Eastern Studies, 41(4), 517- 532. Read More