NEW BEGINNING FOR CAMBODIAN POLICE? COMMISSIONER'S

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000009 SENSITIVE SIPDIS SECSTATE FOR DS/IP/EAP, EAP, INL, DRL PLEASE PASS TO FBI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC CB SUBJECT: NEW BEGINNING FOR CAMBODIAN POLICE? COMMISSIONER'S STRATEGIC VISION IMPRESSES REF: PHNOM PENH 921 SENSITIVE NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION ¶1. (U) Summary: On December 11, DCM, RSO and Legat met with General Neth Savoeun, new Commissioner General of the Cambodian National Police. The DCM congratulated him on his recent appointment as the nation's senior law enforcement official, replacing the deceased Hok Lundy (reftel). She also thanked him for the professional collaboration between the Embassy and the police including heightened support following recent events in Mumbai. Neth Savoeun described a detailed, impressive and ambitious strategic vision, which, if implemented, could change the way the police are viewed in Cambodia. Top-most among his priorities for the national police of approximately 50,000 officers are internal reforms, including introducing the concept of community policing, and increasing the capabilities of the nation's border police. END SUMMARY. Internal Reforms and Community Policing -------------- ¶2. (U) Without prompting, Neth Savoeun acknowledged the need for a more disciplined approach to law enforcement. He outlined a plan for carefully monitoring crime rates and deploying police resources when and where they were needed, at the same time holding police at the municipal and local level accountable for improvements in their areas. He talked about rewarding positive behavior and censuring poor performers, including police not showing up for work, failing to enforce the law, or participating in corrupt behavior. He talked of establishing an internal affairs unit to deal with misconduct and said officers had been warned that removal, and even prosecution, would be the price of misbehavior. ¶3. (U) Neth Savoeun openly acknowledged that police must end an era of notorious misconduct. Touching on one of the more benign problems, he said police in uniform not wearing helmets while on their motorcycles undermined the government's effort to introduce a new traffic law. But, he did not shirk from discussing more serious misconduct, repeatedly talking about corruption, intimidation, gambling and failure to uphold the laws of the Kingdom. He asserted that reducing incidences of police misconduct would encourage the citizenry to trust, and cooperate with, the police, thus reducing overall crimes rates. ¶4. (U) He went on to describe plans to introduce community policing, a concept previously unknown in Cambodia. He spoke of installing mailboxes at district and commune level police posts where citizens could deposit suggestions, complaints or even accolades, as a means of providing feedback on police performance. He even envisioned police meeting face-to-face with citizens in their districts as an effort to improve relations with communities and make police more directly accountable. He clearly recognized the importance of information-sharing between the police and the public. He also described plans for a rewards system for members of the public who provide information to the police resulting in arrests and prosecutions. Acknowledging the risks such informants might face, he said they would be provided police protection if needed. Providing Secure Borders -------------- ¶5. (U) When discussing the border police, estimated to be 5,000 members, Neth Savoeun explained that the nation's military had more resources than the border police and likely more capabilities. However, he stated that there was no truth to the rumor that the military would absorb the border policing responsibilities. He explained that the Prime Minister decided that the military would continue to conduct military exercises and training in the border areas, while the border police would continue to conduct all law enforcement activities in those areas. He advised that the border police were understaffed in many of the western provinces and, as a result, recruitment efforts would have to be increased in those provinces. He outlined a plan for training trainers in these border regions and even admitted that Cambodia had requested assistance from neighboring countries like Vietnam for additional border security training programs. He expressed a desire for U.S. training assistance in this area as well. Drugs, Gambling And Gangs -------------- ¶6. (U) Neth Savoeun cited the problems of drug addiction, gambling and gang activity as major causes of increased crime in the nation. He asserted that more drug rehabilitation centers were needed in order to effectively treat the nation's drug addiction problem. He requested U.S. assistance in this area, but mainly in the form of funding for the construction of a facility on land already set aside by the government for a rehabilitation center. The DCM noted that rehabilitating the drug addicted is a challenging undertaking which requires psychological and medical understanding, but undertook to look at how USG programs might inform the CNP effort. ¶7. (U) Neth Savoeun advised that following consultations with the Prime Minister, he had a mandate to strictly enforce the government's gambling laws (Cambodians are not allowed to frequent gambling establishments, they are for foreigners only) -- which up to this point have not been enforced. He anticipates receiving complaints from the owners of gambling establishments, but said the benefits of the enforcement far outweigh the consequences of inaction. In regards to the gang problem in Cambodia, Neth Savoeun advised that his office is studying the U.S. model on anti-gang legislation and enforcement. He explained that with the current lack of anti-gang legislation in Cambodia, suspected gang members are often released after the maximum 48-hour holding period. Of the 600 suspected gang members who were arrested in 2007, only 50 actually faced criminal charges. Neth Savoeun would like to send a delegation to the U.S. to study the U.S. response to the gang problem in detail. Fugitives -------------- ¶8. (U) According to Neth Savoeun there are approximately 7,000 fugitives in Cambodia. Neth Savoeun opined that the majority of the 7,000 wanted persons continue to commit crimes due to the fact that they have not been apprehended. Neth Savouen plans to use wanted posters similar to the FBI TOP TEN FUGITIVES and the media in an effort to apprehend these fugitives. Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) A member of the government's leading task force on anti-trafficking, Neth Savoeun has a good reputation among elements of the Embassy who have dealt with him in the past. It is clear that he takes his new responsibilities seriously - he said he'd hardly slept since assuming command, as there was so much to do. Savoeun briefed Emboffs speaking from a three-page, handwritten outline which we know he also has used as a basis for organized briefings to his senior staff and provincial police chiefs, who he has summoned into the capital. His vision has been informed by advice provided by a staff member who received training in the US and another who previously served on the NYPD. A nephew by marriage to the Prime Minister, Neth Savoeun seems to recognize that he will need significant political support to reform; he regularly referred to consulting with both Prime Minister Hun Sen and Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. Neth Savouen's ideas are comprehensive and ambitious; many, if not all, will encounter entrenched opposition in a system which has not heretofore operated on merit or punished poor performers. RODLEY