UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Preventing threats from transnational criminal groups and terrorists is a critical role for U.N. police, according to a top official speaking in New York.
Police Adviser Andrew Hughes, head of the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations Police Division, said that countries fresh from a recent conflict have a significant vulnerability to terrorism and organized crime, the United Nations reported. Hughes spoke Thursday at the Police Commissioners and Senior Police Advisers Conference at U.N. Headquarters in New York.
Hughes said U.N. police units deployed to support peacekeeping operations are critical in reforming efforts and rebuilding security infrastructure that are a major component in preventing a return to violence.
"The threats faced by the global community include not just international wars and conflicts but civil violence, organized crime and terrorism," Hughes told officials at the conference, according to the United Nations.
"Law enforcement is a key element in facing many of these challenges to international peace and security, and support to national policing services is essential for peace security, human rights, development and democracy."
