Police departments in the United States may have a role to play in the developing democracies of the Middle East.

“A key to a thriving democracy is strong democratic policing that respects human rights, protects minority rights, and combats widespread systemic corruption. The clearest sign of a struggling democracy is a police force that is poorly trained, poorly paid, and often corrupt. Instead of preventing crime, officers are themselves engaged in crime, whether it’s kidnapping of drug dealing of facilitating others who are involved in those illicit trades. These corrupt and ineffective police organizations threaten the very survival of the struggling democracies. Interestingly, many of the government officials and businesspeople of those countries look to the United States for guidance and assistance.”

John F. Timoney from “Beat Cop to Top Cop a Tale of Three Cities” page 315-316

John Timoney, as Chief of the Miami Police Department,  and Mayor Diaz created an "Institute for Democratic Policing within the MPD Police Academy." -"Beat Cop to Top Cop"

INTERNATIONAL POLICING INSTITUTE
For years, police departments in the Latin America and the Caribbean region have sought assistance from the Miami Police Department to develop partnerships and facilitate training of their personnel in modern crime fighting techniques. They have also welcomed our expertise in responding to threats and emergencies that might arise in their communities. The International Policing Institute will provide police managers with the necessary training, in theory and practice, in various law enforcement concepts. The department’s subject-matter experts, many fluent in Spanish and Creole, are eager to teach their counterparts abroad with the objective that upon completion of their training program, they will be able to impart their new knowledge to officers under their supervision in their respective countries and revise policies and procedures to reflect their lessons learned. HARVARD UNIVERSITY John Timoney Fall 2010 Resident Fellow