VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPU #0132/01 0372158
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 062157Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0318
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0102
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000132 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC EFIN PGOV SNAR SOCI KJUS XL HA
SUBJECT: Haitian National Police - Status Report and Action Request 
 
REF: PORT AU PRINCE 000068 
 
¶1.       (SBU) SUMMARY: Three weeks after the devastating January 
12 earthquake, and despite the loss of its headquarters building, 
commissariats, personnel, and equipment, the Haitian National 
Police (HNP) remains the most visible government institution in 
Haiti, and continues to provide a reassuring presence on the 
streets of Port-au-Prince.  The HNP have still not accounted for 
471 officers, have confirmed 71 are dead, and are unable to account 
for numbers injured.  Distribution of HNP pay checks for January 
began on February 4, but has only reached a small fraction of 
personnel to date.  In order to meet strategic HNP 
institution-building goals, NAS requests assistance for repairs to 
the National Police Academy; see paragraph 14.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
¶2.       (SBU) NAS met with HNP Director General Mario Andresol and 
a number of his key staff on February 3 to discuss the current 
operational status of the HNP.  As of February 4, 471 HNP officers 
remain missing and 71 are confirmed dead (64 HNP and 7 corrections 
officers).  An unknown number of officers are also injured. 
Despite this, a post-earthquake record of 4,235 police officers 
reported to duty in Port-au-Prince on February 3.  Andresol 
identified the payment of salaries and the provision of food, 
water, and shelter as key to ensuring that the HNP retains policing 
capability.  NAS would add fuel for generators and vehicles to this 
list, and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti 
(MINUSTAH) has coordinated donors for these necessities. 
 
 
 
Food, Water, and Shelter 
 
 
 
¶3.       (U) NAS began daily delivery on January 21 of 5,000 Meals 
Ready to Eat (MREs), donated to the HNP on a non-reimbursable basis 
by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) under their humanitarian 
assistance mission.  Until January 29, DOD also donated 1,000 
bottles of water per day.  NAS is working with the HNP to source 
water trucks to provide bulk water. 
 
 
 
¶4.       (SBU) Shelter for displaced families of HNP personnel 
remains an ongoing concern.  An additional 600 tents are required 
to house HNP officers and their families.  MINUSTAH informed NAS on 
February 4 that it has a written commitment from a donor to provide 
the required number of tents, but has not yet confirmed the 
delivery date.  Andresol noted that many HNP officers and families 
in the hard-hit southern cities of Leogane, Petit Goave, Grand 
Goave, and the Southwest Department remain without shelter.  Should 
MINUSTAH fail to deliver the required tents, NAS may need to assist 
the HNP with shelter before the rainy season begins in March. 
 
 
 
Salary Payments 
 
 
 
¶5.       (SBU) Andresol told NAS that the HNP received payroll 
checks from the Government of Haiti (GOH) on February 2.  The 
distribution of paychecks began on the evening of February 4, but 
checks have only been issued to a limited number of personnel to 
date.  Andresol stated that distribution is being carefully 
coordinated, and will serve to create a final tally of the numbers 
of HNP still active, deceased, missing, and injured. 
 
 
 
¶6.       (SBU) Rumors that the GOH lacks sufficient funds for the 
payroll have begun circulating among the HNP rank-and-file, 
particularly given the delay between the February 2 delivery of the 
checks and the failure to distribute the checks in a rapid and 
timely manner.  However, as of February 5, there are no confirmed 
reports that any HNP personnel have been unable to cash their 
checks.  In addition, the GOH has confirmed to post that it has 
sufficient funds to cover the January payroll, but it remains 
unclear whether the GOH has sufficient funds to pay salaries for 
February and subsequent months.  NAS will continue to monitor the 
salary payments in close coordination with the HNP and the Ministry 
of Justice. 
 
 
 
Communications Network 
 
¶7.       (SBU) The HNP's main communications control center was 
destroyed in the collapse of the Presidential Palace.  The HNP is 
currently working to locate space to replace the control center. 
In addition, the HNP's two main communications relay stations were 
damaged in the earthquake.  The relay point on Boutilier mountain 
was repaired soon after the earthquake by a Motorola technical 
team.  During a January 30 mission supported by the U.S. Coast 
Guard (USCG) to the other main relay station, on Ile de la Gonave, 
technicians from the HNP and the US Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC) discovered that the power supply to the relay 
station was not operational. 
 
 
 
¶8.       (SBU) On February 5, USCG volunteered rotary airlift to 
move equipment (generators and other power supply equipment) and 
fuel out to La Gonave island.  The plan to restore the la Gonave 
relay point was carefully coordinated with the HNP's communications 
technicians, a NAS PAE IT contract technician, the FCC, Motorola, 
local telecommunications companies, and the USCG.  The mission 
successfully restored power to this key relay point to seven 
Departments, including those in the Southern Claw.  NAS is working 
closely with the HNP as they continue to identify individual 
stations or other points in the network in need of repairs. 
 
 
 
¶9.       (SBU) NAS has an ongoing HNP communications project to 
expand the HNP network.  Prior to the earthquake, seventy-eight 
rural commissaries were outfitted with low-maintenance 
communications equipment geared for Haiti's limited infrastructure. 
NAS has provided solar power systems, base station radios, 
repeaters, Marine radios, and hand-held radios.  Following the 
earthquake the HNP relied, and are still relying, on radio 
communications as both the cell and land line networks were not 
functional.  (NOTE: NAS is aware that many other donors have plans 
to help the HNP with its communications network, but cautions that 
uncoordinated donations will result in a network that might have 
compatibility issues or equipment that the HNP may not be able to 
maintain.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
 
National Police Academy 
 
 
 
¶10.   (U) According to Andresol, the resumption of new recruit 
training at the National Police Academy remains one of the HNP's 
top priorities.  By bringing in new recruits, the HNP will be able 
to project a sense of institutional stability and normalcy, both to 
HNP personnel and to the general population.  Andresol's goal is to 
bring in the next class of recruits by the end of February.  This 
will help ensure that the HNP stays on track to meet its goal, as 
agreed upon with the United Nations, of 14,000 police officers by 
¶2011.  HNP's goal is to bring in a class of 800-1000 recruits for 
its 22nd class.  Andresol confirmed that some 300 of these will 
become corrections officers.  The HNP held a roll call on February 
5 in order to determine how many recruits from the 1,046 person 
list established before the earthquake are still available.  While 
the HNP is still verifying the list, over 800 were reconfirmed and 
deemed eligible to date.  (NOTE: In December the HNP did not have 
sufficient funds for a new class, as their budget had been 
straight-lined for 2010.  It is unclear how they intend to pay the 
salaries of these new police.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
 
¶11.   (U) Before training can resume, significant structural 
repairs are required at the National Police Academy's facilities. 
The Academy's exterior wall sustained severe damage in the 
earthquake.  NAS is exploring several options to repair the wall, 
as well as structural damage to the Academy's main gathering 
pavilion and chapel.  As of February 5, it appears the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers will be unable to assist the HNP with these 
repairs, as its mission is strictly limited to humanitarian 
assistance. 
 
 
 
¶12.   (SBU) According to MINUSTAH, three HNP Academy instructors 
were killed in the earthquake, and 18 were injured, leaving 60 of 
the original 81 instructors available for the next training class. 
MINUSTAH also reminded NAS of the need to complete remaining work 
on the PAE-constructed barracks. 
 
¶13.   (SBU) Both Andresol and MINUSTAH continue to cite the lack of 
weapons, ammunition, and firearms training as a major capability 
gap.  Due to a lack of firearms and ammunition, the 1,200 graduates 
from the last two Academy classes did not receive firearms training 
and were not issued a firearm upon graduation.  The HNP plans to 
begin firearms training with these officers on February 8, using 
weapons and ammunition both purchased by the GOH and donated by 
France. 
 
 
 
¶14.   (U) ACTION REQUESTS: NAS requests as a high priority that INL 
add task orders to the PAE contract for the National Police 
Academy, both to complete the instructors' barracks, and to 
complete engineering assessments and a scope of work in order to 
rebuild/repair the wall, main gathering pavilion, and chapel.  In 
addition, NAS requests that INL prepare for expedited procurement 
of uniforms, personal training gear, and other training items for 
the 22nd class as soon as the names and numbers of students are 
known.  NAS also requests INL and L's final determination as to 
whether FY10 INCLE funds may now be used for the procurement of 
weapons and ammunition, given the folding of certain ACP 
authorities and exemptions into INCLE with the merger of the two 
accounts. 
 
 
 
¶15.   (SBU) COMMENT: Regular access to food, water, and shelter 
remain critical to maintaining the HNP's policing capability.  NAS 
assesses that HNP personnel will continue to report for duty as 
long as these basic life support functions are maintained. 
However, the HNP rank-and-file may soon become restive if  the GOH 
is unable to distribute pay checks for coming months in a timely 
fashion.  In addition, should there be insufficient funds for 
future salary payments, the loyalty of the police to current 
commanders could erode.  END COMMENT. 
MERTEN