While demand for police officers to participate in missions is rapidly growing, the supply of available officers has stagnated or even declined. Several studies have demonstrated that one of the reasons is that police institutions do not yet fully recognize the internal-external security nexus and fail to fully maximize the benefits of seconding staff to international missions. But what are these benefits to begin with and how can they be realized? 

This short report gives a brief and to-the-point overview of some key benefits of participation in international police missions to sending institutions. It also shows what several countries do to ensure that police missions benefit the sending institutions and contribute to security at home. The report highlights good practices and experiences, and can serve as an input for further discussions. 
 

“80% of returned police secondees said they acquired new skills that were useful to their tasks at home.”

We thank the governments of France and the Netherlands for their generous support in this endeavour, and express our gratitude to our partner, the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management which contributed to the production of this paper.