Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

Crime and the quality of policing have become matters of profound and immediate importance to international foundations working to build democratic capacity in developing countries. In September 2002, the Ford Foundation, the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales / CELS (Center for Legal and Social Studies), and Vera organized a meeting of donor organizations engaged in Latin America to begin a collective discussion of public security and police reform initiatives in the region. Drawing on that discussion and donor program materials, this report describes a range of approaches and strategies that donors and their grantees are deploying to reduce crime, improve public safety, and make policing more respectful and effective. It also explores how programs are developed and grantees selected, the common problems that donors face, and the opportunities for closer cooperation between donors.