PART II.  THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES CHAPTER KEY MESSAGES • Compliance with the principles laid out in this resource book requires law enforcement officials to have the right attitude, skills and expertise, which in turn requires proper human resources management, including recruitment and selection procedures, adequate training and performance management. • Recruitment processes should be fair and effective, in order to select persons with the right work ethos, and establish a work force whose composition is a reflection of the society in which it operates. • New recruits need to be provided with adequate training to facilitate familiarity with rules and procedures relevant to their work as well as proper application. • Extensive training should be provided on the use of force. For training to bear relevance for law enforcement practice, it should be based on “real world” experiences, making use of real life scenarios and including lessons learnt from previous practice. Those in command positions should be trained and prepared for their specific responsibilities. • It is important for law enforcement officers to learn that not every situation requires action. If the situation requires action, officials should learn to consider non-violent means first, and only consider using force when non-violent means remain ineffective or have no likelihood in succeeding. • Firearms training should include a necessary minimum of shooting practice and also be scenario-based, where officials have to make assessments of a situation and decided if and how to respond. • Regular follow-up and refresher training are good practice. • An effective performance management process involves regular assessments of each staff member on the basis of previously established indicators and a jointly developed plan on how to improve performance. Good performance management requires the supervisor to also keep an eye on the personal situation of the law enforcement officials under their command. • Officers at risk of using excessive or arbitrary force should be identified as early as possible and necessary and appropriate measures should be taken to address this problem. A socalled “early intervention system”, to identify officers at risk of misconduct and offer those officers counselling or training in order to correct performance before a situation escalates, is one way of achieving this. 61