12.1  |  Security Sector Reform

1284.  The November 2006 ‘Police Forward Look’ included the target of replacing “the

corrupt and dangerous SCU”.1192 The plan was:

“Two hundred people to be disciplined, removed or prosecuted, then seek PDoP’s

[Provincial Director of Police’s] and Governor’s agreement to close down and

establish MCU [a Major Crimes Unit] in new location. Close down the Jameat

(present site of the SCU). Realistically, only aim to get the MCU the best possible

start, then hand over to Iraqi control immediately at PIC.”

1285.  That work would be undertaken by ArmorGroup contractors.

1286.  On 15 December, a junior official at the PJHQ briefed Mr Browne on Op SINBAD

and the plans to deal with the SCU based at Jameat Police Station.1193 The briefing did

not suggest a real improvement in the overall capability of Basra’s IPS stations: while

prior to Op SINBAD stations had an average of TRA level 3 or worse, the average was

now assessed at between 2 and 3 with “some inconsistencies” between stations. It did,

however, state that the PJCC’s “command ability to plan and co‑ordinate operations

throughout the city” was “much improved” due to the permanent presence of the MNF

at the centre.

1287.  The PJHQ official assessed the SCU as “so thoroughly tainted by corrupt officers

that it is effectively beyond gradual reform” and that orders had now been given by

the MOI and Prime Minister Maliki for it to be disbanded. The new Operation THYME

was being planned by Maj Gen Shirreff to disband the SCU, clear its headquarters and

remove all prisoners at the Jameat. The existing 200 SCU personnel would either:

• be detained (only if “sufficient targetable intelligence” existed);

• have their case handed to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) (where no

“targetable” evidence existed but there was information suggesting the individual

had been involved in criminal activity); or

• moved to other parts of the IPS and given further training (if not suspected of

any criminal activity).

1288.  The PJHQ official said that where individuals were dismissed from the IPS,

continued biometric testing from the IPS should prevent them from being re‑employed,

although that was only possible if the Iraqis continued “to implement a stringent and

routine testing regime”. The new MCU would be formed at the PJCC made up of

120 individuals selected by the PTT following “a rigorous screening process”.

1289.  Op THYME was carried out on 25 December.1194 Briefing Mr Browne the following

day, a PJHQ junior official reported that the operation had been successful but that MNF

1192  Paper BE Baghdad, November 2006, ‘Police Forward Look’.

1193  Minute PJHQ [junior official] to PS/SofS [MOD], 15 December 2006, ‘Op TELIC: Iraq: Op SINBAD and

its Enduring Effect on the IPS’.

1194  Minute PJHQ [junior official] to APS/SofS [MOD], 26 December 2006, ‘Outcome of Op THYME –

MND(SE) Operations to Disband the Serious Crime Unit (SCU) in Basra’.

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