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Leading change in crisis - Afghanistan's police, fire/rescue & ambulance - Casualties, corruption & community
Building public safety in Afghanistan was never a technical exercise—it was a battle for legitimacy, trust, and survival. Over two years as Director of Police and Emergency Services, I worked alongside International and Afghan partners to reform the Ministry of Interior to be capable of delivering civilian policing, fire and rescue, and ambulance services in the midst of an active war. This presentation explores the realities of leading institutional change under fire: navigating entrenched corruption, diversion of effort to multiple missions, international advisory divergence, serious cultural awareness deficiencies, and the constant threat of casualties; building systems that could function despite political volatility; and earning community confidence in places where uniforms were often viewed with well-founded suspicion.
Through frontline narrative and strategic lessons, this paper examines how progress was forged—sometimes inch by inch—by supporting reliable local leaders, creating accountability in environments resistant to it, and designing emergency services that could operate during violent conflict with an eye on transition and 'peace'. A series of capacity building efforts over 20 years from the international community with significant focus on the militarisation of public safety capabilities set the foundation for a very challenging ‘first-principles’ based reform and capacity building mission.
Realistically, it is a story of resilience: of the Afghans who stepped forward to serve, of the communities who demanded better, and of what it takes to build life‑saving institutions when the world around them is being torn apart.
Finally, the nature of armed conflict has changed over the past 50 years with a significant increase in the number of civilians deployed to war zones to perform a wide range of roles. As a result a discussion around how we prepare public safety professionals for potential deployment into warzones, internationally and potentially nationally is undertaken.
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