Working Paper
Policing Reforms and Economic Development in African States

The notion that economic development in African states requires minimal levels of security has become widely accepted in the international development community. Reforming non-functioning policing systems is an important step toward achieving security, yet the experience of changing policing systems in Africa is disappointing. Only South Africa and a few post-conflict states (Sierra Leone, Liberia) have achieved some measure of success. Many of the political, social, and economic contextual conditions that would support reforms of policing are absent. Recommendations on what policies could work, drawn from the general policing reform literature and African case studies, are suggested.