Policing, enforcement and low intensity conflict

Abstract

Using examples from sub‐Saharan Africa, the paper examines what happens to the police, policing and enforcement when low intensity conflict (LIC) is endemic. It argues that the nature of policing and enforcement is shown by such circumstances because it is no longer obscured by routine government processes. State police action is based on legitimised coercion predicated on an ability to translate power into authority. The brutality and state fragmentation frequently accompanying LIC do not preclude this but, in general, low status and inadequate training mean the police cannot operate in the absence of a recognised national regime. In addition, factors such as LIC and a fragile infrastructure have led areas to disengage from the political centre, mobilise local resources, and establish their own forms of policing. The police thus become peripheral as security is privatised. In spite of this, police systems are robust and survive LIC.