In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Through the 18-month, USAID-funded pilot project Conflict Mitigation through Community-Oriented Policing (CMCOP), The Asia Foundation is playing a significant role in supporting both the police and Timorese communities to develop a new partnership, enhancing police legitimacy and responsiveness to community needs. CMCOP aims to improve the performance of police and build public trust by fostering collaborative community-police partnerships that use a problem-solving approach to respond to the security needs and expectations of the community. “For 24 years, until 1999, the police in Timor-Leste were under the command of the Indonesian military,” explains Asia Foundation Country Representative in Timor-Leste, Silas Everett, in this new video about the CMCOP program. “Today, people still hold memories of the fears they felt toward the police and the security forces at that time.”