BASRAH'S ACTING CHIEF OF POLICE URGES TRAINING TO REFORM THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000143 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/5/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR IZ SUBJECT: BASRAH'S ACTING CHIEF OF POLICE URGES TRAINING TO REFORM THE POLICE REF: BASRAH 132 CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b) ¶1. (U) Summary. On September 4, the Regional Coordinator (RC), Deputy RC and poloff met with Brigadier General Mohammed Hammadi al-Musawi, Basrah's acting Chief of Police and the brother of the chairman of the Basrah Security Committee. Although Hammadi made it clear that he believes he is quite different from his ineffective predecessor, his plan to rehabilitate the IPS simply involves retraining the force. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Brigadier General Hammadi, Basrah's acting Chief of Police and a native son, met with the RC, DRC, and poloff on September 4. Hammadi has occupied his position since the removal of his predecessor on July 16 and has worked for the IPS in Basrah for the past 18 months. Touting himself as the best candidate for the top slot, Hammadi decried the inaction of the former police chief and said he would weed out the corrupt elements in the IPS and provide training to educate the police to enable them to perform their responsibilities. Though he estimated that at least 2,000 of the 15,000 police officers in Basrah were "bad", Hammadi said that they could be retrained and taught to be loyal to Iraq. He acknowledged that militias and political parties exert tremendous influence in the Basrah police force, but asserted that by removing corrupt commanders and providing training the force could be cleansed. ¶3. (C) Hammadi said he currently is focusing his efforts on the Serious Crimes Unit, a hotbed of militia and criminal activity within the police. He admitted that he lacked the power to dismiss individual members, though he has transferred a few. His plan of action is "to get close to them" and to retrain them. The nascent Internal Affairs Division, which was recently reestablished with vetted officers without ties to Basrah, is not yet fully operational, according to Hammadi. It reports directly to the Ministry of Interior, though Hammadi said he performs a "coordination" function. ¶4. (C) Comment. Hammadi believes that he will be chosen as the Chief of Police and told the RC that the Basrah Provincial Council would submit its three nominations to the Ministry of Interior on September 6. Unfortunately, Hammadi has no concrete plan for purging or improving the IPS beyond extensive and prolonged retraining - his belief that the vast majority of the IPS is salvageable is pure whimsy. Unlike his brother, Major General Ali Hammadi al-Musawi, the Chairman of the Basrah Security Committee (Reftel),Hammadi at least professes to have a plan of action. But retaining most of the criminal elements in the police and relying upon "training" to induce them to become better citizens and police officers is a recipe for a continued dysfunctional and criminal IPS in Basrah. End comment. GROSS