Mr. Patrick Sudue
Director,
Liberia National Police Headquarters
Capitol Hill
Monrovia-Liberia
Dear Mr. Sudue,
On behalf of the Citizen Bureau for Development and Productivity (CBDP), we extend warm congratulations to you for your recent appointment as head for the Liberia National Police (LNP).
We envision a new dawn in the LNP by your appointment. We are hopeful that the welfare of the men and women of the LNP will not be compromised under your administration as you went through the walls of the LNP under the supervision of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) like most of those officers you are leading.
As founder and executive director for the CBDP who earned the Distinguished Leadership Award from the LNP under the supervision of the UNMIL, I appreciate seeing such change in the institution and pledge the Citizen Bureau’s support, and advocate for improved logistics, finances, and regular supplies of uniforms with visible identification batches for police officers at all times, among other good.
I also intend to ring the bell for accountability and integrity to guarantee professional conduct for democratic policing. Placing emphasis on accountability, responsiveness and representation will enhance public trust in the institution and by extension the Government of Liberia headed by His Excellency President George Weah.
We kindly ask you for your cooperation in lobbying the formal justice system to empower the CBDP with prosecutorial powers, such that, offenders of misdemeanor crimes are sentenced to visible hard work as an alternative to detention, and equipped with the prospects to acquire skills crucial to their livelihood. I hope to discuss these ideas with you further as the CBDP will help the LNP underpin justice by referring minor disputes to the CBDP to resolve and together achieve Police-Citizen Unity.
Please find included in the envelop more about CBDP.
Best,
John Kamma
Executive Director
150 Carey Sreet, iCampus
Monrovia, Liberia
Email: john.kamma@yahoo.com
Cell# +231 886-790-231 or +231 777-930-331
About the Citizen Bureau
The Citizen Bureau for Development and Productivity (CBDP) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which developed from the restructure of the Liberia National police (LNP) in 2007. The Bureau advocates good citizenship and works with communities to ensure that misdemeanor cases and civil disputes are resolved through negotiation to alleviate the burden on both the formal justice system and the citizens. Its mission is to eradicate poverty and promote police-citizen relations through mediation.
Achievements
Since 2013, through the Community Justice Initiative, the CBDP collaborated with community based organizations and stakeholders to establish two community Justice Teams in West-Point and Logan Town in Monrovia, with prospects to expand in the outlying counties this year. By using our justice tools, well over 500 cases have been resolved with low recidivism rates, and citizens have saved over sixty thousand US dollars and countless hours which otherwise would have been spent on legal administrative costs through the formal justice system.
Challenges:
Some challenges we face are the lack of financial and logistical empowerment for the volunteer mediators, lack of prosecutorial powers or ability to administer punishment to offenders, and lack of capacity to transform unskilled and recalcitrant offenders to acquired skills that are crucial to their livelihood and sustainability (e.g. wood workshop or agricultural farms) to enhance productive citizenship.
Financial and logistical support will enhance efficiency and effectiveness thereby resolving more conflicts peacefully amongst residents and to leverage outreach through local word of mouth, town crier, electronics, and social and print media so that people understand the importance of resolving conflict peacefully without resulting to violence, and promote police-citizen cooperation as the surest way to achieve policing and community goals.
