Haiti has one of the world’s weakest police forces. There are 63 police officers per 100,000 people, less than a quarter of the regional average of 283 per 100,000 and only a third of the average for sub-Saharan African countries. Moreover, a significant number of members of the Haitian National Police (HNP) are alleged to be involved in criminal and violent activities, including direct involvement in the past year’s wave of kidnappings, according to human rights organizations and police officials themselves.
That's pre-earthquake. Here are 118 pp. on other Haitian social and political indicators.
the police were a major part of the 2004 uprisings and were effectively dismantled afterwards. The political class sees them as a threat to power/coup formentors and the citizenry sees them as extortionists.
The Mounties (and more specifically the SdQ) had a “team building” program in Haiti to try to professionalize the police, and informally it says alot that they’ve been there 20 years. 20 years and not a successful transition to a propre police force. Rather damning.
I think the one upshot, to make lemonaide if you will, is the forces of repression in Haiti have effectively been erradicated. Time will see if nothing beats criminal police or noth, though
How are the police paid, and how much?
In the US, the belief of a lot of conservatives is the police in the US are paid way too much, especially in the Cadillac retirement packages that await them if they complete a few decades of service without being convicted of a crime. But as incentives matter, don’t the US police Cadillac retirement packages create strong incentives for both personal integrity and also for long term law and order which requires a general faith in justice? It is insufficient to merely preserve one’s personal integrity to get that retirement package, society as a whole must be sustained without revolution or anarchy to actually pay those retirement benefits.
In places like Haiti, with present day pay insufficient to support one’s family, and no promise of future deferred compensation that are realistic given the history of regime change, what are the economic incentives to be honest. Certainly morality plays a role in behavior, but economists argue economic decisions should not be decided on moral grounds, but purely on maximizing profits. In corruption is more profitable, the economists argue corruption is the rational choice.
Weak and yet corrupt. Power and accountability appear to be orthogonal.
u should get your facts straight before u go misinforming people,twisting a headline just to get hits. these ‘looters who’ve been desperate for civil means of survival 4days were ‘stealing’ candles n food.i guess those aren’t necessary for survival right? don’t try to pull a rush limbaugh on ur own brothers n sisters of Haiti. picture urself in a country where people were already dying of starvation& then suddenly THIS!!n tell me what would u do?!
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