Police Force Modernization
Building the Gambia Police Force every community deserves and every officer can be proud of.
A safe society is a building society. Without law and order, every other investment in roads, schools, hospitals, and economic growth is undermined. The Gambia Police Force today is an institution carrying the weight of decades of underinvestment, political manipulation, and institutional neglect. Across the country, police stations are dilapidated, overcrowded, and unfit for purpose. Officers work without adequate equipment, without standardized training, and without the physical infrastructure necessary to serve the public professionally. In many communities, the relationship between citizens and the police is defined more by fear and mistrust than by confidence and cooperation. Crimes go unsolved because investigative tools do not exist. Emergencies go unanswered because coordination systems are absent. Officers who joined with genuine commitment to public service are set up to fail by a system that gives them inadequate pay, inadequate tools, and inadequate training. Under the National Builders Party, this ends. The structure remains. The name remains. But the culture, the standards, the equipment, the training, and the accountability will be rebuilt from the ground up.
A Gambia Police Force transformed into a professional, people-centered institution that every Gambian can trust, respect, and rely on when it matters most. Every officer knowing the law, respecting the citizen, carrying the right tools, and being held accountable when they fall short. Every station clean, safe, and welcoming. Every community with a voice in how it is policed. Every Gambian, from Banjul to Basse, from Serrekunda to Janjanbureh, able to call for help and know that help is coming. We are not building a better police force. We are building the Gambia Police Force. The difference is not just in the name. It is in everything that follows.
The NBP will transform the Gambia Police Force through a new Police Force Act, a new Service Charter, new leadership appointed on merit, and a new institutional identity grounded in service, professionalism, and public trust.
A new GPF Service Charter, published and distributed to every community in The Gambia, will state in plain language what citizens can expect from every officer they encounter. New standardized uniforms designed to reflect professionalism and approachability, a revised institutional mandate centered on community safety and constitutional rights, and a new badge incorporating the New National Standard values of integrity, service, and accountability will signal that this is a different institution from the one Gambians have known. An Inspector General of Police appointed through a merit-based, transparent process with National Assembly confirmation will lead the transformation. Officer salaries will be reviewed and set at competitive, publicly benchmarked levels, removing the financial vulnerability that creates conditions for corruption and ensuring the force can attract and retain the people it needs.
The NBP will rebuild and modernize every police station in The Gambia, starting with all seven regional headquarters in Phase 1 and reaching every district station by Year 4.
A national assessment of all stations in Year 1 will establish the baseline condition of every facility and produce a Station Modernization Plan with a published, phased rebuilding schedule. Every modernized station will have a professional public reception lobby, humane and secure booking and holding areas, dedicated interview rooms, a Public Complaints Office where citizens can file reports and receive case reference numbers, a Community Relations Office, digital connectivity, reliable power, disability-accessible design, and climate control. Regional headquarters will additionally house a Criminal Investigations Division with dedicated detective offices and forensic storage, a training and development center, and a media briefing room for regular, transparent public communications on regional policing matters.
The NBP will equip every officer of the Gambia Police Force with the tools to do their job safely, effectively, and accountably, procured through transparent competitive tendering and maintained through professional fleet management.
A nationally standardized fleet of patrol vehicles, motorcycles, mobile command vans, riverine patrol boats for communities along the River Gambia, and highway response units will give the GPF the mobility it needs to respond across all regions. Every vehicle will carry GPS tracking, a dashboard camera, and a secure digital radio linked to the regional operations center. Every frontline officer will receive body-worn cameras with footage stored securely and accessible for oversight, GPS-enabled personal radios, mobile digital tablets for field reporting and database access, standardized uniforms and protective equipment appropriate to role and climate, and non-lethal tools meeting international standards for use of force. A national digital police communications system will replace the current fragmented infrastructure, enabling real-time coordination between patrol units, the Criminal Investigation Department, and the national emergency response system.
The NBP will build forensic capability from the ground up, because crimes in The Gambia go unsolved not because evidence does not exist but because the tools to collect, preserve, and analyze it are absent.
A National Forensics Laboratory at GPF headquarters, established in partnership with UNODC and international forensic institutions, will provide fingerprint analysis, DNA processing, ballistics examination, digital forensics, and document authentication capability. Mobile forensic kits will be deployed to all regional headquarters for scene-of-crime use. A National Digital Crime Database will track criminal activity, case resolution rates, and incident trends across all regions in real time. Digital case management systems will replace paper-based records, enabling secure case tracking, evidence management, and performance monitoring. A National Police Digital Evidence Management System will ensure that all evidence in criminal cases is properly logged, stored, tracked, and accessible to prosecutors, eliminating the evidence handling failures that have allowed cases to collapse before trial.
The NBP will establish a National Police Training Academy as a purpose-built institution delivering world-class initial training to all new officers and continuous professional development to every serving member of the force.
Initial officer training will be a minimum 12-month program covering Gambian law and constitutional rights, human rights and professional ethics, de-escalation and proportional use of force, community policing, criminal investigation fundamentals including evidence handling, emergency response and first aid, digital literacy and reporting, physical fitness and officer wellness, and cultural awareness and trauma-informed policing. Specialized programs will cover criminal investigations, cybercrime, traffic enforcement, female officer corps for gender-based violence cases, juvenile justice, public order management, and border liaison. Promotion at every level will be based on demonstrated competence and performance, not seniority, political connections, or favoritism. International exchange programs will place Gambian officers in partner services abroad and bring international training personnel to The Gambia.
The NBP will establish a dedicated National Cybercrime Unit within the Gambia Police Force to address the fastest-growing category of criminal activity, from financial fraud and identity theft to online trafficking and digital extortion.
The Cybercrime Unit will be staffed by specially trained officers with skills in digital forensics, network analysis, and online investigation, equipped with industry-standard cybercrime investigation tools, and partnered with Interpol's cybercrime division and the units of key international law enforcement agencies. It will work with telecommunications companies, financial institutions, and technology platforms to investigate and respond to digital crimes. The unit will also develop national cybercrime prevention and public awareness programmes. Full Interpol membership, activated in Year 2, will connect the GPF to the global law enforcement intelligence network for the first time. A national fingerprint and criminal records database, integrated with the National Immigration Biometric Database established under the NBP Immigration Reform policy, will give investigators access to the cross-system data they need to identify and prosecute offenders.
The NBP will rebuild the relationship between the Gambia Police Force and the Gambian people through Community Policing Councils in every region, a national Know Your Police campaign, and a Vulnerable Persons and Gender-Based Violence Unit in every region.
Community Policing Councils, established in all regions by Year 2, will give citizens a formal, structured voice in how their communities are policed, enabling communities to identify priorities, raise concerns, and build the cooperative relationship that makes policing effective. A nationwide Know Your Police initiative will increase public understanding of officer responsibilities, legal rights, and how to access services. A Vulnerable Persons and Gender-Based Violence Unit, launched in all regions by Year 3, will ensure that women, children, and vulnerable individuals who have experienced harm have dedicated, trained officers available to take their statements, support their cases, and connect them with appropriate services. Female officers will be available in all stations to take statements from women who have experienced sexual or domestic violence.
The National Builders Party will establish an Independent Police Oversight Bureau with the power, independence, and resources to investigate complaints against officers, inspect police facilities and operations, and publish findings publicly, because trust cannot be declared: it must be earned and protected.
The Bureau will be led by an Inspector General appointed by the President with National Assembly confirmation, serving a fixed non-renewable term, reporting directly to the National Assembly, and operating entirely independently of the police chain of command. All complaints against officers will be logged in a public register with case numbers provided to complainants. The Bureau will have the power to interview officers, access police records and facilities, recommend disciplinary action, and refer cases for criminal prosecution. An annual report of all investigation findings will be published and available to every Gambian. A Police Professional Standards Unit within the GPF will conduct internal monitoring, investigate integrity breaches, and manage an early-intervention programme that identifies conduct warning signs before they become serious misconduct. Officer welfare will be actively supported through occupational health services, mental health support, a Police Welfare Fund for families in cases of injury or death in service, and formal grievance protection.
For Every Community
A Community Policing Council in your region gives your community a formal voice in how it is policed. A modernized station with a Public Complaints Office means that if an officer falls short, there is a clear, formal route to report it and receive a case reference number. Body-worn cameras on every frontline officer protect you from abuse and protect good officers from false complaints. A Know Your Police campaign means you know your rights, and you know how to access help when you need it.
For Young Gambians
A police force that promotes on merit rather than seniority and political connection is a police force where a talented, dedicated young officer can build a real career. The National Police Training Academy will be the entry point to a profession that is worth joining. Specialist career pathways in cybercrime investigation, forensic science, criminal investigation, and community policing will create roles that match the skills and ambitions of a new generation. A competitive salary that reflects the demands of the job means that choosing to serve your country does not mean choosing financial hardship.
For Every Family
When you call for help, help is coming. A national emergency number staffed around the clock, patrol vehicles with GPS and dashboard cameras, and a coordinated regional response system will cut response times and save lives. When a crime is committed against your family, a forensics laboratory and digital evidence management system mean that evidence is preserved and cases are built, not lost. When a family member is vulnerable, a dedicated Vulnerable Persons Unit is there. The National Builders Party is building the police force every Gambian family deserves.
The New National Standard of policing in The Gambia is defined by this: every officer knows the law, respects the citizen, carries the right tools, and is held accountable when they fall short. Every station is clean, safe, and welcoming. Every community has a voice in how it is policed. Every frontline officer has a body-worn camera. Every serious crime has a forensic response. Every digital crime has a specialist unit. Every vulnerable person has a trained officer available to help. Every complaint has a case number and a published outcome. And every Gambian, from Banjul to Basse, from Serrekunda to Janjanbureh, can call for help and know that help is coming. We are not building a better police force. We are building the Gambia Police Force. The difference is not just in the name. It is in everything that follows.
A safe society is a building society. The Gambia Police Force that the National Builders Party builds will be trusted, equipped, trained, accountable, and present in every community. That is not a slogan. It is a construction plan. And it starts on day one.
Think Big. Build Big.
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