«We must seek out those skilled, highly-qualified specialists with expertise in management, planning, operations, training, investigations, forensics, administration, technology and change management.»
Getting Involved
The United Nations Police Division seeks highly qualified police officers from United Nations Member States for service in UN peace missions around the world.
Two ways to become a UN Police Officer
The majority of the United Nations Police Officers are seconded or loaned by their governments to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations’ Police Division for a short term (six to 12 months).
If you are interested, you must consult your own police service on how to apply through your government. The United Nations Police Division works closely with Permanent Missions to the United Nations to find the skilled officers required by mission mandates. The process of being nominated by your service and government varies from country to country.
The second, more limited way that the United Nations Police Division seeks staff is through professional posts. These are published on the United Nations Careers portal. Interested police officers should periodically look at these sites to see what positions may be available.
More Female Police Officers
A top priority for UN Police is to increase the number of female police officers in peacekeeping operations and encourage the recruitment of women in domestic police services.
A woman examines a recruitment drive for female police officers in the Liberian National Police. Photo UNMIL/Christopher Herwig
Only nine percent of UN Police Officers are female, an increase from six percent in 2006, but still a marked imbalance. In August 2009, the UN launched a world-wide drive to recruit more women into its ranks - see Global Effort.
Career Benefits
Police officers working in United Nations missions enhance their professionalism through exposure to standards of excellence in international policing and specialized training. Many senior members of the international policing community consider it beneficial that officers have had an international posting. It is also an opportunity for police officers to help populations in need following a crisis or war. Police-contributing countries see clear benefits for their local communities when their police officers return from UN missions. Many police officers serve in more than one United Nations mission throughout their careers.
Working in United Nations peace missions gives you an opportunity to meet people from many different backgrounds and cultures and to learn from them. Police peacekeepers participate in different mission trainings and often work closely with police from the nation where the mission is located, advising, mentoring and assisting them in their duties. Police peacekeepers expand their thinking about how to approach police service and often bring useful knowledge back to their service when they return home. Becoming a police peacekeeper is for a finite period of time, ranging from six to 18 months, making it a small hiatus in your national career. Seconded police peacekeepers are paid their salary by their own government and receive a mission allowance from the United Nations to cover all of their costs while deployed.
The United Nations is in need of specialized, highly qualified and motivated police officers. If you are interested please contact your national authorities.
