Most U.S.  funding made available for foreign police assistance during fiscal years  2009 through 2011 provided training and equipment to Afghanistan, Iraq,  Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico, and the Palestinian Territories. DOD and  State funds constituted about 97 percent of the U.S. funds for police  assistance in fiscal year 2009 and 98 percent of U.S. funds for police  assistance in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Funds Made Available for U.S. Foreign Police Assistance Rose and Then Fell during Fiscal Years 2009 through 2011

On the basis of data provided by DOD, State, DOE, USAID, Treasury,  and DOJ, we estimate that the U.S. government made available $3.5  billion in foreign police assistance in fiscal year 2009, $5.7 billion in fiscal  year 2010, and $4.7 billion in fiscal year 2011 (see fig. DOD and State Are Taking Steps to Address Limitations in Their Procedures for Assessing and Evaluating Foreign Police Assistance Activities

DOD and State/INL have acknowledged limitations in their procedures to  assess and evaluate their foreign police assistance activities and are  taking steps to address them. Recognizing the need to  conduct such evaluations, State/INL is developing an evaluation plan that  is consistent with State’s February 2012 Evaluation Policy and  implementing its June 2010 guidelines that recommended including  evaluation as a part of its budget and planning documents for programs in  Iraq and Mexico. DOD Assesses the Performance of Police Forces It Trained and Equipped in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan

DOD assesses the performance of the national police forces it has trained  and equipped for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and  Pakistan—countries that were the three largest recipients of DOD’s  foreign police assistance funds during fiscal years 2009 through 2011. DOD Reported It Lacks Data on Civil Policing Effectiveness for Afghanistan, but Plans to Expand Its Assessment Process to Include Such Data

Although DOD is assessing ANP’s operational performance, the  department recently reported it lacked data to assess civil policing  effectiveness. Agencies Coordinate Foreign Police Assistance Activities, but Some Areas for Improvement Exist

U.S. agencies have implemented various mechanisms to coordinate their  foreign police assistance activities as part of wider foreign assistance  activities. Such mechanisms include (1) interagency policy committees  chaired by the National Security Council (NSC) that coordinate policies at  a high level; (2) headquarters working groups established to coordinate  specific issues, such as antiterrorism and nonproliferation; (3) various  working groups at the overseas posts; and (4) special positions to  coordinate foreign police assistance activities. However, we noted some  areas for improvement, including lack of defined agency roles and  responsibilities and inconsistent information sharing. Though State requested official copies of these  assessments, DOD did not provide them. According to a former DOD  civilian police adviser, DOD destroyed the database that contained the  assessments of the Iraqi police forces during the transition, because it  had completed its mission to train the Iraqi police. To ensure that information is available for future U.S. foreign police  assistance efforts, we recommend that the Secretaries of Defense and  State establish mechanisms to better share and document information  among various U.S. agencies. NSC did not comment on the report’s recommendations. This includes work to better define agency roles and  responsibilities, as appropriate. To identify the amount of U.S.  government funding made available for foreign police training and  equipment activities, we examined past GAO reports; congressional  budget submissions, including the Department of State’s (State) Bureau  of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs’ (State/INL)  program and budget guides for fiscal year 2011; the Afghanistan Security  Forces Fund fiscal year 2012 congressional budget justification; and the  Department of Defense (DOD) fiscal year 2012 congressional budget  justification and other budget documents. We also interviewed officials from the Departments  of Defense, State, and Energy (DOE); the U.S. Agency for International  Development (USAID; and the Departments of the Treasury, Justice  (DOJ), and Homeland Security (DHS). GAO Recommendations  Not applicable. However, we did  not believe this report sufficiently  addressed our recommendation. State partially concurred  with this recommendation.
Why GAO Did This Study

In April 2011, we reported that the United States provided an estimated $3.5 billion for foreign police assistance to 107 countries during fiscal year 2009. We agreed to follow up that report with a review of the extent to which U.S. agencies evaluated and coordinated their foreign police assistance activities.
As such, this report (1) updates our analysis of the funding U.S. agencies provided for foreign police assistance during fiscal years 2009 through 2011, (2) examines the extent to which DOD and State/INL assess or evaluate their activities for countries with the largest programs, and (3) examines the mechanisms U.S. agencies use to coordinate foreign police assistance activities. GAO focused on DOD and State because they have the largest foreign police assistance programs.
GAO analyzed program and budget documents and interviewed officials from DOD, State, Energy, the U.S. Agency for International Development, Justice, the Treasury, and Homeland Security.

What GAO Found

The United States provided an estimated $13.9 billion for foreign police assistance during fiscal years 2009 through 2011. Funds provided by U.S. agencies rose and then fell between fiscal years 2009 and 2011. During fiscal years 2009 through 2011, the United States provided the greatest amount of its foreign police assistance to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico, and the Palestinian Territories. Department of Defense (DOD) and State (State) funds constituted about 97 percent of U.S. funds for police assistance in fiscal year 2009 and 98 percent in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
DOD and States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (State/INL) have acknowledged limitations in their procedures to assess and evaluate their foreign police assistance activities and are taking steps to address them. DOD assesses the performance of the police forces it trains and equips in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. However, the assessment process for Afghanistan does not provide data on civil policing effectiveness. DOD plans to expand its assessments to obtain data to assess the ability of these forces to conduct civil policing operations. In addition, recognizing that it had conducted only one evaluation of its foreign police assistance activities because it lacked guidelines, State/INL is developing an evaluation plan that is consistent with States February 2012 Evaluation Policy. This evaluation plan includes conducting evaluations for its largest programs in Iraq and Mexico.
U.S. agencies have implemented various mechanisms to coordinate their foreign police assistance activities as part of wider foreign assistance activities, such as the National Security Councils (NSC)-led interagency policy committees that coordinate policies at a high level and various working groups at the overseas posts. However, GAO noted some areas for improvement. Specifically, NSC has not defined agencies roles and responsibilities for assisting foreign police. Further, DOD and State do not consistently share and document information. For example, DOD did not provide copies of its capability assessments of the Iraqi police to State, which is now responsible for police development in Iraq, because it destroyed the database containing the assessments at the end of its mission to train the police. Further, some U.S. embassies, including the one in Bogotá, Colombia, do not publish agendas or minutes of their proceedings.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that (1) NSC complete its efforts to define agency roles and responsibilities, and (2) the Secretaries of Defense and State establish mechanisms to better share and document information among various U.S. agencies. NSC provided technical comments, but did not comment on our recommendation. DOD concurred and State partially concurred, noting the importance of interagency collaboration.