Somaliland Police Force
Ciidanka Bileyska Somaliland
قوات الشرطة صوماليلاندي
Logo of the Somaliland Police
Logo of the Somaliland Police
Flag of the Somaliland Police Force
Flag of the Somaliland Police Force
Agency overview
Formed1993
Employees22,000
Annual budget$20 Million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSomaliland
Map of Somaliland Police Force's jurisdiction
Governing body Government of Somaliland
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersHargeisa, Somaliland
Sworn membersUnknown
Agency executive
UnitsSpecial Protection Unit (SPU)
Rapid Reaction Unit (RRU)

Somaliland Road Safety Force (SRSF)

Somaliland Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU)
Districts
List
Website
www.somalilandpolice.com
Somaliland Police on Facebook

The Somaliland Police, officially the Somaliland Police Force (Somali: Ciidanka Booliska Somaliland, Arabic: قوات الشرطة صوماليلاندي) is a body responsible for law enforcement in the Republic of Somaliland.

History

Establishment

British Somaliland Police Logo

The Somaliland Police Force was established during the British colonial period and was responsible for the internal security of the Somaliland Protectorate. They also handled permits and permits such as identity cards and passports.

Overview

25th Police Anniversary Parade
Women in Somaliland Police Force.

The Somaliland Police falls under the Minister of Interior. It also works closely with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the military. The force was founded in 1993 out of the Somali National Movement (SNM) who liberated the country from the dictator Siyaad Bare's regime of Somalia after the long and bloody Somaliland War of Independence.[1] It is divided according to each of Somaliland's administrative regions: Maroodi Jeex, Sahil, Awdal, Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool. Each region has a police commandant and commissioned officers. The police are tasked with carrying out criminal investigation, patrolling, and traffic management. There is also a small number of anti-riot personnel. In addition, a British-trained Special Protection Unit (SPU) is tasked with the protection of leaders and foreign dignitaries.[2] In 2005, the armed forces and the police received 15 percent of the Somaliland budget. Most of this money went to salaries and allowances.[3]

The US State Department's 2010 Human Rights Reports in Somalia observed that the Somaliland Police were firmly under civilian control, had not committed any unlawful killings (including demonstrators), were not conducting arbitrarily or politically motivated arrests, and were not committing torture or rape (but were also not taking direction action against people who were). The report noted that the prisons were improving, due to UN supervision. Half of the 765 prisoners in Mandera Prison were detained on the orders of regional or district security committees.[4]

The Somaliland Police commissioner is General Mohamed Adan Saqadhi.[5] He replaced Abdillahi Fadal Iman.[6] The Deputy Police Commissioner of Somaliland is Abdirahman Liban.[7][8]

Departments

Vehicles plates
Beret and cap badge for Somaliland Police Force

As of 2003, there were eight police stations and 24 police posts in Hargeisa.[9]

  • Special Police Unit (SPU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).[7][10]
  • In spite of the Special Police Unite (SPU), the Somaliland government trained almost 70 soldiers as a Rapid Response Unit (RRU),[11] finishing training for a second team, almost 100 soldiers, on March 14, 2013. The Rapid Response Unit is trained for emergency responses, including terrorism acts, firing, first aid, and protecting.[12]

Since at least 2010, the UNDP has been working on reforming and training the Somaliland police force. In 2010 they were also making an effort to align/merge the maritime police with the civilian police.[13]

Since December 2021 the UK government has been funding the Somaliland Security Programme, which includes developing the Police capability in strategic planning, public order, counter-terrorism and joint operations.[14]

Line units

Due to lack of funds and an arms embargo on Somalia as a whole, the guns used by the Somaliland Police belong to the individual soldiers themselves. Before joining the army, both former combatants and new recruits, are required to report for an recruitment process with their guns. A similar process is observed in other disciplined forces, including the police.[15]

Establishments

Mandera Academy.[16]

Deployments

  • May 2008 - Simultaneous explosions in Hargeisa targeting the UNDP, the Somaliland Elections Commission, and the Ethiopian embassy, as well as Puntland administration offices in Bossasso, killed 20 persons and injured 37. On May 28, a Hargeisa regional court arraigned 11 suspects in the attack. In July the court acquitted nine of the suspects for lack of evidence and sentenced two others to a jail term of 18 months each for obstruction of justice. The court also delivered in absentia death sentences to five suspects who were on the run. On September 16, Somaliland security arrested after that freed by high court, one of the suspected masterminds who had already been sentenced to death by hanging; he remained in custody awaiting the implementation of this sentence.[4]
  • September 2009 - Somaliland authorities arrested and detained more than 100 persons, including several opposition leaders, after four persons were killed during demonstrations in Hargeisa.[4]
  • June 19, 2011 - Two "soldiers" killed in a bomb attack on a police station in Las Anod, Sool region.[17]
  • October 27, 2011 - Police condemned by National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) for beating a journalist in Hargeisa in broad daylight, allegedly for taking several pictures.[18]
  • November 27, 2011 - Commander of the Central Investigative Unit (CID) of Sool, Mohamud Mohamed Hirsi, is gunned down in Las Anod; his deputy, Arab Warsame, is also wounded.[19]

General Commissioners

Flag of Chief of Somaliland Police Force
Police Commissioners
General Commissioner Start year End year
Abdillahi Fadal Iman 1993 2019
Mohamed Adan Saqadhi 2019

Firearms

Weapon Origin Notes
Assault Rifle
AK-47 Soviet Union Imported from Ethiopia and Yemen
AKM Soviet Union Imported from Ethiopia and Yemen
AK-74 Soviet Union Imported from Ethiopia and Yemen
AK-74M Soviet Union Somaliland modernised version of the AK
AK-103 Russia Imported from Ethiopia
FN FAL Belgium Current origins of this weapon is unknown
M16A1 United States Current origins of this weapon is unknown
Sidearm
Skorpion vz. 61 Czechoslovak Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
TT Pistol Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
Sniper Rifle
Dragunov Sniper Rifle Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
Machine Gun
PK Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
DShK Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
NSV Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
RPK-74 Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
Anti Tank Weapons
RPG-7 Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence
Drill Purpose Rifles
SKS Soviet Union Seized after the Somaliland War of Independence

Ranks

Officers
Rank group General / flag officers Senior officers Junior officers Officer cadet
Somaliland Police
Major general
Sareeye Gaas		 Brigadier general
Sareeye Guuto		 Colonel
Gashaanle Sare		 Lieutenant colonel
Gashaanle Dhexe		 Major
Gashaanle		 Captain
Dhamme		 First lieutenant
Laba Xídígle		 Second lieutenant
Xídígle
Enlisted
Rank group Senior NCOs Junior NCOs Enlisted
Somaliland Police
Chief warrant officer
Musharax sarkaal		 Warrant officer class 1
Sadex xarígle		 Warrant officer class 2
Laba xarígle		 Warrant officer class 3
Xarígle		 Sergeant
Sadex alífle		 Corporal
Laba alífle		 Lance corporal
Alífle		 Constable
Dable

References

  1. ↑ "Police Law". www.somalilandlaw.com.
  2. ↑ SOMALILAND: Police reveal 2010 annual crimes – surge in rape, murder Archived 2010-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Somali Joint Needs Assessment
  4. 1 2 3 2010 Human Rights Reports: Somalia
  5. ↑ "Somaliland Police Ready To Deal Alshabaab With Iron Hands".
  6. ↑ "Silanyo does Meles and Rayale a favour". Archived from the original on August 19, 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Somalia & Somaliland". The HALO Trust.
  8. ↑ SOMALILAND: Police arrest arsonists Archived 2011-11-23 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Hargeisa Municipality Statistical Abstract
  10. ↑ Pelton. "The Police of Somalia, Somaliland, Puntland".
  11. ↑ "Rapid Response Unit completes training in Somaliland". Sabahi Online. March 14, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Somaliland 100s of new RRU police Unit agents graduate+PICS". Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Rights-Based Partnership Policing Reform Efforts Press Ahead as 300 More Officers Graduate". Archived from the original on October 11, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Terms of Reference: National Technical Advisor - Policing &training and Capacity Building - Somaliland Security Programme".
  15. ↑ Somaliland's Military is a Shadow of the Past
  16. ↑ "Somaliland progresses towards police reform". Archived from the original on April 6, 2012.
  17. ↑ Bomb Blast Hits Las Anod Police Station
  18. ↑ "28 October 2011 Daily Media Roundup". SomaliaReport. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  19. ↑ Somaliland: Police commander gunned down again in Las Anod Archived 2011-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
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