Haitian National Police Protection of the Population May Depend on Better Wages

Further weakening their functioning as a policing body is that a considerable number of HNP officers are thought to be participating in violent-crime gang activity, as well as a series of kidnappings. Both the HNP and human rights advocates verify that some members of HNP are operating outside the law.

The HNP played a significant role during the coup d'etat of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, sympathizing with the pro-democracy movement that sprung up around him. One could say the HNP is internally divided between pro-militant and pro-democratic elements.

The Canadian Mounties, as well as the UN have spent up to two decades in an effort to turn the HNP into a professional police force, but success has eluded them. A theory as to why the HNP hasn't succeeded as a law enforcement agency concerns pay packages given to police officers that are inadequate to sustain their families.

It's believed that paying a good wage would motivate the police force members to be honest rather than lured into gang activity and other violent crimes. In Haiti though, the focus is on optimizing profits instead of raising the morale of the HNP.

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