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 Sheremet
Ahmeti is a career police officer who remains incredibly optimistic
despite spending more than six years in prison and witnessing
the execution of hundreds of innocent civilians.
Ahmeti is the top police official in Kosovo, the war-ravaged
province in Eastern Europe struggling to overcome a legacy
of ethnic cleansing He along with 10 Kosovo commanders and
seven police officers recently spent a month at UNF undergoing
training at the Institute of Police Technology and Management
(IPTM). The 49-year-old police commander is the chief advisor
to the commissioner of the United Nations International Police
Force. About 4,600 members of the Kosovo Police Service are
attempting to restore order in the province with the assistance
of the more than 30,000 NATO soldiers still stationed there.
That represents a reduction since 1999 when more than 50,000
troops entered the province after Yugoslav troops withdrew
following a 78-day aerial bombing campaign by Alliance forces.
Ahmeti's painful history reflects the tragic history of the
province itself. After a distinguished career in government
service, including serving two years in the Yugoslavia Embassy
in Belgium, Ahmeti was forced to resign in 1990 by the government
of Slobodan Milosevic. Ahmeti tried starting his own business
but was thrown in jail in 1994 as the result of his political
activity and opposition to persecution of ethnic Albanians.
He was in jail when the NATO intervention began. The prison
where he was being held captive was bombed in 1999 by Alliance
forces and he narrowly escaped death. When the Milosevic government
realized that Yugoslav troops would be forced to pull out
of Kosovo, Ahmeti said he witnessed the execution of more
than 200 Albanians who were being held in the same prison
in which he was an inmate. When Kosovo was liberated, Ahmeti
was released and immediately applied to become part of police
force for the province. "We are working to build a respectable
police force in which minorities and women are well represented,"
he said. However, the problems Ahmeti and his officers face
are formidable. He acknowledges that organized crime is a
major problem in Kosovo especially in the area of contraband
arms trade and drug smuggling. But he denies reports that
Kosovo has become a haven for elements associated with Osama
bin Laden's al-Quida terrorist network.
Nevertheless, Ahmeti is convinced that the fledging Kosovo
government will only be successful if the NATO and the UN
continue to assist in maintaining order in the country at
least until 2006. That's the year when all law enforcement
authority is scheduled to pass from NATO officials to his
Kosovo Police Services. That's why Ahmeti believes the training
he and his officers receive at IPTM will be so vital to the
future of the government. During the training, Ahmeti and
his colleagues spent four days each week on campus discussing
the principles of management, leadership, motivation, personnel
management and communications. One day a week was spent off
campus with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to give them
first-hand knowledge of American policing practices IPTM Director
Everett James said the Institute was pleased to be part of
the efforts to develop and improve police services in Kosovo.
"We hope to be able to assist in development of a new democracy
in an area that has undergone so much conflict," he said.
The training was provided under a contract funded by the
U.S. Department of Justice.
Ahmeti believes the experience in the United States will
have lasting benefits in Kosovo because his commanders will
in turn pass the knowledge they have gained at UNF to lower-level
officers. "We are very indebted to your country for helping
us build a police force that will serve Kosovo impartially
and be an example of excellence for all of the Balkans," he
said. However, the problems Ahmeti and his officers face are
formidable.
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