The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) recently awarded Mount Saint Vincent University was recently awarded a one million dollar grant to launch a six-year development project titled Community-based Policing and Restorative Justice in The Gambia. The funds are being  managed by Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Although community-based policing and restorative justice are typically viewed as separate concepts, the project team is hopes to integrate both into a holistic program designed to promote effective policing, democratic principles, human rights, and good governance in this tiny West African nation. 

The Gambia is a resource poor nation that, like many other African countries, is struggling to more closely meet western models of democratic government. Located near strife torn countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivore, and Nigeria, it is a beacon of relative intertribal peace and social stability. Despite a significant European tourist trade its economy continues to falter in the face of failing traditional industries, most notably in the groundnut trade. It must capitalize on is its stability but even this is under threat as the economy comes under increasing strain.

This project is premised on the notion that future prosperity in The Gambia is premised in its people feeling safe and perceiving that they have a stake and voice in the activities of a fair and competent police force. Because the police are only part of the equation in community policing, the project will assist with initiatives to encourage the public at large to become a partner in crime prevention and the larger service mandate now being fulfilled by Western forces. In addition to providing practical training for front-line officers, a certificate program in community policing and restorative justice will be developed and offered jointly by the Gambia Police Force and Gambia College.

With regard to the restorative justice component, it will be important for the Canadian partners to remember that we have as much to learn from Gambians as do they from us. Sub-Saharan Africans, with their societal focus on collectivist values, have a much longer tradition of settling problems at the village level than do we in the West. Presently, many criminal matters never come to the attention of the police, but are settled by Councils of Elders under the leadership of Alkalos (village chiefs) or regional chiefs. Remedies sought during these mediation sessions are consistent with the principles of restorative justice insofar as the law-breaker must make amends for his or her actions.

The problem is that the remedy is often seen as arbitrary or unjust, with decisions often based along tribal or other political lines. Especially disadvantaged in the process are women who often remain in a position of powerlessness in this still highly patriarchal society. A female victim may find her perpetrator making amends to her father or husband without much consideration being given her.

Take domestic violence, for example. In the West, many jurisdictions do not allow for police discretion when an assault is reported; mandatory arrest of the perpetrator is the policy. The restorative justice policies of most Western jurisdictions exclude the possibility of many serious offences being diverted from the formal court system, with domestic assault typically viewed in the serious category. In The Gambia, domestic assault is still considered a private matter and usually goes unreported. Should a woman report an assault to the police, she typically would be advised to return home and try to better get along with her husband. Ironically, then, were domestic assaults dealt with at the village level, this would represent an increased recognition of the seriousness of the act, and not, as many Westerners might perceive, a lessening of magnitude. 

In addition to the Gambia Police Force and Gambia College, the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies joins our Gambian team. Although this Gambian-based institute has the expertise to assist with all aspects of the project, Mrs. Hannah Forster and her staff bring particular expertise to the restorative justice component. Our Canadian expert is Ms. Pat Goreham, coordinator for the Restorative Justice Program, Department of Justice, Province of Nova Scotia. Ms. Goreham works with a province-wide network of facilitators who will lead workshops and assist with curriculum development both in Canada and The Gambia. It will take some time for Ms. Goreham to determine just which Canadian best practices and just which restorative justice model can best be implemented in The Gambia. The goal will be to develop a culturally sensitive “made in The Gambia” approach that maintains the integrity of internationally recognized human rights codes.

As Canadian Project Director, the writer will be able to draw on his training as a psychologist and former police officer. The Mount Saint Vincent University team also includes Dr. Meredith Ralston who will focus on the gender components of the project. Her background includes credentials as project director of a sex-tourism development project in The Philippines and as a   documentary filmmaker. The Halifax Regional Police Service enters the project in a Canadian first for this type of project! Canadian police forces have often acted in NATO or UN led peacekeeping missions, but never before in volunteering services in the absence of overt conflict.  We are fortunate to have an in-country managing partner in the form of the Nova Scotia Gambia Association, a long-standing Canadian NGO that will assist with many of the logistical challenges that typically face development projects.

We begin our efforts with officers and community members in the capital city of Banjul and two rural towns. After launching the initiative in these pilot jurisdictions, we will develop curricula to be integrated into the basic training of all future police recruits as well as the curricula necessary for the higher level accredited certificate program. We are optimistic that this project will make as real difference in the lives of Gambians.

Contact: Dr. Stephen Perrott

Department of Psychology

Mount Saint Vincent University

Halifax, Nova Scotia   CANADA

B3M 2J6

Voice mail- (902) 457 6337    stephen.perrott@msvu.ca

October 2004