Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) has been working closely with the governments of St Lucia, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana to build the capacity of their respective criminal justice sector institutions to more effectively combat trafficking, violence, and corruption associated with transnational organized crime and localized gangs since 2020. SCG provides training, advisory, and mentoring support (in-person and remotely) to partner forensic laboratories and other forensics specialists, including investigators and other law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and judges in obtaining and using forensic evidence according to international standards in support of criminal prosecutions. The program, which is designed to contribute to wider regional security objectives by increasing the use of these labs by other Caribbean countries, also includes the use of study tours, workshops, and other knowledge exchange mechanisms.

Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) has supported the United States Department of State to meet the ever-growing demand for technical expertise to train, mentor, and advise foreign nation counterparts who face serious hurdles strengthening their criminal justice sectors. Under the Law Enforcement Expertise Program (LEEP), SCG developed the Global Law Enforcement Experts Database, featuring experts with proficiency in 65 technical areas and professional proficiency in 52 different languages, and deployed them around the world to 23 countries, including to austere locations. Since 2018, SCG has managed 66 expert deployments for 49 short-term technical assistance and long-term capacity building missions, which included assessments and program design, tactical, technical, operational and management-level training, and ministerial- and unit-level advising.

Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) has delivered two Community-Oriented Policing Strategies (COPS) projects in the Sahel. The first project was a regional, multi-country project implemented in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The second project extended support for SCG’s work in Senegal.

Political parties in Sierra Leone are organized along regional and ethnic lines, and elections have historically been marred by violence and conflict. In 2023, Strategic Capacity Group provided election security training and mentoring to the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) to prepare them to manage election security challenges and reduce the recourse to the use of force in the lead up to and during the 2023 national elections.

Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) delivered advisory services, knowledge-sharing, and training events, as well as logistical support and event management services, in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal for the Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). In addition, SCG helped develop five regional networks that enhanced partner self-sufficiency and sustained institutional reform and cross border coordination even after the project ended. This project supported INL’s mission to strengthen Sahelian criminal justice and security sector institutions’ ability to mitigate threats arising from transnational organized crime, terrorist networks, and armed conflict.

Corrections officers and agencies worldwide face acute shortages of trained personnel and resource deficits, which contribute to overcrowding, violence, internal threats, insecure facilities, and transnational criminal group recruiting in correctional facilities. Strategic Capacity Group’s Global Corrections Program trained correctional officers from around the world in the United States at the International Corrections Academy (ICA-C) in Cañon City, Colorado, the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Center (MPCTC) in Sykesville, Maryland, and the Mock Prison Riot (MPR) event in Moundsville, West Virginia. SCG developed curricula, supported experienced Corrections Trainers from partner institutions to deliver high-quality training, provided Turn-Key Logistics support to traveling delegations, organized cross-cultural activities for delegates during each training, coordinated with partner training facilities in Maryland and West Virginia to deliver high quality training to delegations, and measured training effectiveness across all facilities. Additionally, SCG established, renovated, maintained, and managed the new International Corrections Academy (ICA-C) training facility in Colorado for the Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and in coordination with the Colorado Department of Corrections.

With funding from the Canadian Global Affairs’ Peace and Stabilisation Operations Program (PSOP), this project supported conflict transformation and good governance in central and northern Mali by building trust, dialogue, and accountability among conflict affected communities, security forces, and local authorities. An initial assessment conducted in the Mopti, Timbuktu, and Segou regions identified drivers of poor security force-community engagement and produced recommendations for Mali’s government, local communities, and international donors to improve security sector-community relationships. Subsequent work convened key government officials, security sector officials, civil society, and community members in Mopti, Timbuktu, and Segou to address mutual security challenges and develop responses through a series of tabletop exercises that increased trust and coordination between security forces and the communities they serve.

Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) implemented a strategic communications project in Liberia (2017-2021) for the Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to increase nationwide public understanding of and confidence in the Liberian National Police (LNP) by strengthening institutional capacity for effective, transparent, and accountable engagement with the public and the media. The project, which was integrated with Liberia’s national security sector reform agenda, worked closely with the LNP Press & Public Affairs Division, Media Relations, and Community Services to improve public perceptions of and trust in the LNP and to enhance the effectiveness of LNP community-oriented policing, including improving collaboration with the police on behalf of those whom the police serve and protect. Project activities included:

• Assessments of the LNP’s strategic communications capacity, public perceptions of the LNP, police and security media coverage, and public media consumption patterns.
• Development of a strategic communications plan, including organizing stakeholder forums with senior LNP officers and civil society leaders to review assessment findings and generate consensus on the plan.
• Regional Consultations with the LNP’s County Commands to consult, obtain input, and build nation-wide support.
• Development of an institutional change management plan to address identified capacity gaps, including policy-level reform of the Press and Public Affairs Division, the creation of a crisis communication protocol, and the development of an annual community services workplan.  
• Organization of a Study Tour for the LNP Press & Public Affairs Division to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina.
• Creation and delivery of four strategic communications curricula for senior officer, mid-level manager, first-line supervisor, and basic officer levels.
• Creation of a results-based management framework to support implementation of the strategy and measure progress.
• Implementation of management reforms, community engagement plans and protocols, including the establishment of citizen hotlines, and community relations seminar series to educate the public on the role of the police.  

Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) led a consortium with Danish Demining Group and the Clingendael Institute to implement a project for the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs also in close coordination with the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and the Libyan External Office of U.S. Embassy Tripoli to facilitate Libyan-led security sector planning and develop a strategy and action plan for future Security Sector Reform (SSR)/Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR). The consortium worked inclusively with local and national stakeholders to design an approach founded on strategic insights drawn from an assessment of previous SSR/DDR efforts and their key lessons, as well as a comprehensive mapping of national, armed group, and local stakeholders to identify linkages, interests, incentives, and capabilities for SSR and DDR planning. Using these insights, and coordinating with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the European Union (EU), and the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), the consortium built a network of community stakeholders and local security actors. With input from multiple project activities, the consortium developed a strategic guidance and resource document for the SSR and DDR planning process vetted by international and Libyan counterparts.