Police say they need support

Police face dangers without much equipment, and the pay isn't good.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Abdul Ritha Mizel Hasan would have much preferred if his son Mohamed had gone to college. But when that didn't happen, Hasan, a retired police officer, thought the next best thing was for Mohamed to volunteer for the Iraqi police force. At least that way he could avoid serving in the military, and embark on what Hasan believed to be a noble career.
But in November, 30-year-old Mohamed, who had served the force for over a decade, became a police statistic himself when a car packed with an estimated 1,600 pounds of explosives ripped through Al-Shaab police station in a northeastern Baghdad neighborhood, leaving Hasan plagued with regret that he ever prompted his son to become a cop.
"I would no longer encourage young men to join the police," said a grief-stricken Hasan. Mohamed left behind a wife and three daughters below the age of four. "They are sacrificing their lives for political conflicts. There is no guarantee for their safety. They will become victims."
Feelings shared by many
Hasan's sentiments are shared by many Iraqi families, who in recent months have witnessed the slaying of their fathers, sons and brothers in a barrage of attacks against law enforcement officers.
As U.S.-led coalition forces struggle to quash insurgents unwilling to accept the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime, ill-equipped, poorly trained Iraqi police officers are facing the wrath of terrorists who view them as coalition collaborators.
U.S. military officials put the number of Iraqi police killed since May, when President Bush declared an end to major combat, at 116. But some Iraqi police officials believe the number could be as high as 260.
During the holy month of Ramadan, six police stations were hit, and on the day of Saddam's capture, two more were destroyed.
Complaints
Many police officials complain that they are not getting enough support or resources from the U.S.-led coalition force that has assumed the responsibility for training the new law enforcement service. They hunger for more cars, flak jackets, guns and better wages for the 60,000 police dispersed throughout Iraq. They are also calling for concrete barricades, and not just sandbags, to be placed around all police stations.
"Now a policeman is paying with his blood, while his salary is just like any other civil servant's salary," said Lt. Col. Ali Abul Hasain Hadeed, the commander in charge of the Al-Shaab police station.
The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority recently announced that extra hazard duty pay of between $60 and $80 a month would be paid to police officers, soldiers, firemen and border guards.
"The Iraqi Security Forces are on the front lines fighting the terrorists that would prevent Iraq from becoming the prosperous and free nation that we know it will be," said L. Paul Bremer III, the Bush administration's governor for Iraq. "It is only right that these brave security forces when faced with increased dangers, should be compensated for the hazardous duties they perform."
Gen. Kathum Abed Khalaf, chief of police for eastern Baghdad, said the families of police officers killed on duty were also entitled to $100 in compensation from the Coalition Provisional Authority, and that the officers' salaries -- typically starting at around $120 a month -- were supposed to continue to be paid to their next of kin for the immediate future. The rank of the deceased police officers was also elevated after their death.
"We want the martyrs to remain a symbol to the police and an honor to their families," Khalaf said. "It is our duty to do this."
No compensation
But Hadeed said none of the families of the five policemen killed in the blast at his station had received a penny in compensation, and 15 of his men were still hospitalized. Some were blinded, others paralyzed.
Hadeed's staff has also been forced to work temporarily out of a dilapidated former government building devoid of windows and running water and surrounded by mud.
Despite the mounting police casualties, veteran law enforcement officials said they refused to be cowed by terrorists trying to destabilize Iraq.
"Their first purpose is to try to make the work of the police fail and to lower our morale, but this has not worked," Khalaf said. "The best proof is that we are continuing in our duties, in fact even much more than before, in coordination with the coalition forces."
Iraqi police officials are also adamant that the terrorists are foreign extremists, who, Khalaf said, "want to keep Iraq in a chaotic situation to serve their own evil goals."
"(They) think we are serving the Americans, when in fact, no, we are serving our people," said Hushim Shakoori Mohamed, a policeman for 32 years. "My duty is to chase criminals whatever the regime may be."
Under Saddam
That was not always the case. Under Saddam, the police force was largely regarded as corrupt and among the least competent of the country's security agencies. Officers were notorious for the harassment and violent abuse of suspects.
Although many members of Iraq's current police force served under the old regime, Khalaf said he and his men were determined to change their department's tarred image.
Moreover, scores of young men are still keen to volunteer for police duty, he said.
"The first reason is they want to make a living, to achieve their aspiration of being a respectful man," Khalaf said. "And the second is they want to serve their country. Without the police, chaos will prevail."