22027: (Arthur) Albany police boss accepts Haiti detail (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Albany police boss accepts Haiti detail
32-year veteran John Nielsen to join U.S. mission to restore police security
in nation

By BRENDAN LYONS, May 21, 2004

John C. Nielsen, the city's top cop for the past five years, has accepted a
civilian police contractor job helping guide U.S. reform efforts ongoing in
Haiti.

Nielsen, who will work for a private company under contract with the U.S.
Department of State, flew the globe over the past week in a whirlwind tour of
troubled areas in Europe and the Caribbean. He decided on the Haiti job, he said,
because of the unique security challenges in the small nation that has been
ripped by corruption and political strife.

"In the last week I've been all over the world, but Haiti is the one that
interests me the most," Nielsen said. "I think the appropriate State Department
language is 'standing up' of the Haitian National Police, which basically means
getting them back on their feet. Haiti has no army, so the police are
expected to handle most of their internal defense issues."

Haiti has been highly unstable since a revolt in February, when former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country. The nation's infrastructure also
is in tatters, and basic services like water and power are spotty.

"We're giving advice ... on security issues, establishing a police force and
all aspects of that," Nielsen said. "They've got a national police force, but
they have the same issues there, from a need for community policing to issues
with their own internal affairs."

(...)

Nielsen leaves at a time when the U.S. State Department is aggressively
recruiting police officials from across the nation to help oversee police reform
and public safety in troubled nations, including many in Africa and the Middle
East.

Department sources said Nielsen will be paid a mid-six-figure salary and have
a personal security force, driver and residence in Haiti.

"I'm very excited," Nielsen said.


Full story: http://www.timesunion.com/aspstories/story.asp?storyID=250132