Overview:
A solemn ceremony was held in Port-au-Prince for the thirtieth anniversary of the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH), marking three a long time of service amid a extreme safety disaster. Established in 1995 to take care of public order following the dissolution of the Armed Forces, the PNH now faces an alarming rise in gang violence and a major erosion of its operational capability. The celebration passed off in a context the place gang exercise has claimed greater than 30 lives and destroyed 18 police services.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s Nationwide Police, PNH, marked its thirtieth anniversary on June 12 with ceremonies throughout the nation, celebrating the pressure’s legacy amid certainly one of its darkest intervals—decimated ranks, shrinking territory, and a warfare towards gangs it’s struggling to win.
“For 30 years, our police have stood agency to guard and serve the inhabitants,” mentioned Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé at a ceremony held on the Nationwide Police Academy. “I lengthen my gratitude to all police personnel who proceed to sacrifice themselves day by day to struggle towards the armed gangs that unfold chaos.”
Based in 1995 to exchange the disbanded navy, the PNH was envisioned as knowledgeable, apolitical pressure. Three a long time later, the PNH stays the nation’s solely functioning safety establishment—however one which operates below excessive pressure, with overburdened officers, restricted assets, and mounting strain to revive order as armed teams develop their grip on the nation.
A pressure below hearth, however nonetheless standing
The Port-au-Prince ceremony introduced collectively authorities officers, members of the Transitional Presidential Council, CPT, the PNH and Haiti’s Armed Forces Excessive Command, the commander of the Multinational Safety Assist mission (MSS), the Secretary-Normal of BINUH and international diplomats.
“On this event, I lengthen my gratitude and appreciation to all police personnel who proceed to sacrifice themselves day by day to struggle towards the armed gangs that unfold chaos among the many inhabitants.”
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
On the Police Academy, the PNH band echoed by means of the air with ceremonial songs as cops from totally different items marched in formation, bearing the nationwide flag and shouldering weapons. On many faces—significantly amongst senior officers—delight and exhaustion mingled with grief, reflecting the pressure’s heavy toll over the previous 12 months. The speeches and wreath-laying unfolded in solemn distinction to previous anniversaries, the place festive parades and group occasions as soon as marked the day.
“Immediately, I invite you not solely to commemorate, however to replicate,” mentioned PNH Director Normal Rameau Normil. “The thirtieth anniversary highlights the pressing must confront the phobia of gangs and their enablers. Our future, as a nation, is tied to the way forward for this establishment.”
The speech got here after a 12 months of report losses for the pressure. This previous 12 months has been one of many deadliest within the police pressure’s historical past. A minimum of 33 cops had been killed between June 2024 and June 2025, in response to the Nationwide Human Rights Protection Community (RNDDH) report revealed on the PNH’s thirtieth anniversary.. Armed teams additionally burned or destroyed 18 police stations, significantly in Port-au-Prince, Delmas, and Carrefour-Feuilles, lowering territorial management and forcing many officers to reside in overcrowded posts or with relations.
The PNH pressure now has roughly 13,500 active-duty officers for a inhabitants of greater than 11 million folks. Fewer than 300 of Haiti’s 570 municipalities have a constant police presence, in accordance the Human Rights group Middle of Evaluation and Analysis in Human Rights, CARDH. Over two dozen neighborhoods stay below gang management.
“This thirtieth anniversary can also be a time to obviously determine the main challenges obstructing the way forward for the Nationwide Police— now inseparably linked to an pressing necessity to fight the phobia imposed by gangs and the atrocities of legal teams.”
PNH Director Normal Rameau Normil
“Since these areas fell below the grip of the Viv Ansanm legal coalition, many cops have been pressured to reside with pals, relations, or contained in the very stations the place they’re assigned,” the RNDDH notes.
“This actuality—seemingly missed by the Superior Council of the Nationwide Police (CSPN)—has been evident in a number of precincts, together with Port-au-Prince, Delmas, and the Canapé-Vert sub-station.”
Commemorating in Cap-Haïtien—and holding the road
In Cap-Haïtien, the nation’s second-largest metropolis, the thirtieth anniversary was marked with extra public celebrations. Law enforcement officials in black and gold uniforms attended a morning mass on the metropolis’s cathedral, joined by Mayor Yvrose Pierre and metropolis prosecutor Charles Edouard Durand. In preliminary commemorative actions, on June 11, police beat a neighborhood academics’ crew in a pleasant soccer match at Parc Saint-Victor.
“The cops have a variety of willpower to work for the group,” mentioned Northern police spokesperson Arold Jean, instructed The Haitian Instances. “The general public trusts us. That’s what’s behind our success. Regardless of all of the difficulties, we flip 30 right now.”
A fragile establishment with a shrinking price range
Regardless of their position on the frontlines, members of the police pressure proceed to function with restricted assist and fundamental provides. Many lack functioning patrol automobiles, bulletproof vests, and even dependable radios.
Whereas the Transitional Presidential Council just lately introduced a “warfare price range” to struggle gangs, RNDDH, which just lately examined the allocation for the PNH, mentioned that this so-called “warfare price range” is one in title solely, “symbolic at finest.”
Based mostly on obtainable knowledge, the present breakdown of the Haitian Nationwide Police price range is as follows:
- The PNH receives solely 10% of the entire nationwide price range.
- Of that, 73% is allotted to personnel bills (salaries, compensation, social fees);
- Simply 27% is directed towards funding (tools, infrastructure, coaching);
- Total, these funding expenditures characterize solely 3% of the entire nationwide price range.
Law enforcement officials working in neighborhoods focused by gangs say they nonetheless lack fundamental tools like protecting gear and functioning patrol automobiles. Most of the pressure’s specialised items—together with SWAT, BIM, and UTAG—proceed operations in Port-au-Prince, however with fewer personnel and declining morale.
Renewed requires PNH reform and respect
Regardless of its weaknesses, the PNH stays important to sustaining a semblance of public order. Officers acknowledged the hole between what the general public expects and what the pressure can ship—whereas urging renewed funding.
“To the ladies and men of the PNH’s numerous items, I name on the inhabitants to supply them recognition and respect,” mentioned CPT consultant Leslie Voltaire. “All cops aspire to a greater future for Haitians. That’s why the PNH has chosen to face agency.”
The thirtieth anniversary, whereas muted, served as a reminder: the struggle for Haiti’s future nonetheless passes by means of the nation’s embattled police stations—and the women and men inside them.
“With out the police, gangs would rule all of Haiti,” mentioned one officer, talking on situation of anonymity. “The PNH isn’t good, but it surely’s our final line of protection.”
Listed here are some pictures from the thirtieth anniversary celebrations of the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) and officers on obligation in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien:
