I love this kind of stuff, because it is a prime example of the types of market forces that not only drive places like Afghanistan, but throughout the world. My thoughts on the matter is that if the police paid more than PSC’s and the Taliban, then more than likely, they will retain their officers. But that would take the government of Afghanistan actually coughing up that kind of dough, or I mean, the Coalition, and actually putting their money where their mouth is.
The other factor is free will. Men and women who are in this business throughout the world, all have families to feed, bills to pay and dreams to fulfill. You cannot tell a person in this industry, to work a job that pays them less than what they are worth, and especially if there is work that pays more or offers better benefits.
This is also about choice, and maybe working for a PSC is more convenient for these guys, as opposed to the military or police. Or they don’t trust the government or maybe they don’t like being cops. The other one could be time, and maybe the police force really doesn’t have a flexible enough schedule for these guys. Everyone has their reasons. –Matt
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Afghanistan to regulate private security: Canadian general
By Steve Rennie
25th January 2010
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The greener pastures of private-security firms lure away many an Afghan cop with the promise of bigger paycheques and relatively safer work.
But now the Afghan government is drawing up new rules for private companies as it tries to stop police from leaving the force.
Canada’s highest-ranking soldier in Afghanistan says the regulations will help put the country’s police force on an even playing field with security companies.
“I don’t think anybody wants to limit anybody’s ability to choose their own destiny,” Maj.-Gen. Michael Ward, deputy commander of NATO forces training the Afghan police, said Monday.
“But when AWOL and desertion are such a big problem in the security forces, then you don’t actually want to be stimulating it by letting the competition hire them away.”
The rules for private-security firms are part of a national police strategy being drafted by Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar.
Measures being considered by the Afghan government include caps on how much security firms can pay their workers and limiting who companies can hire.
“The easiest way for it to be done would be to just say that you have to be licensed, you can work under the following conditions, and that there is actually a cap in terms of who you can hire, and under what conditions,” Ward said.
“You would not be able to hire a soldier or patrolman who didn’t actually have a leaving certificate saying that he completed his or her service honourably and according to the terms of service.”
The military buildup in Afghanistan has stoked a surge of private security contractors, who provide basic security for bases in the country to free up critical manpower.
Several operating bases in southern Afghanistan, where the bulk of Canada’s troops are stationed, are now farming out the sentry work.
The Defence Department has awarded contracts to Canadian-owned security companies, such as Tundra Strategies, which runs an Afghanistan-based operation that hires and trains mostly Afghans as guards, but deploys them as far from their home regions as possible in order to avoid conflicts of interest.
The thinking is that hiring security guards is cheaper than having Canadian soldiers do the same job, and it frees up troops to concentrate on other aspects of the mission.
But Afghan guards are still handsomely paid by local standards. They can earn between US$300 and $600 a month, depending on their job and skill level.
So it’s no wonder some Afghan police, who now make $165 a month after they got a raise this month, flock to private-security companies.
Afghanistan’s police force now stands at 97,000 strong. But Ward said the force loses about 19 per cent of its members each year.
Some of that attrition is due to officers being killed on the job, he said, but often it is police leaving for private-security work.
“If they’re all going across the street to earn more money (with) a competitor who can afford to pay more … it becomes a losing venture around which (the Afghan government is) trying to insert larger control,” Ward said.
Story here.