SPOKANE – When WSU professor of criminal justice Bryan Vila accepted a position as police trainer in the island nations of Micronesia in the 1970s, he envisioned it as a paid vacation in paradise. But reality sank in; Vila found himself challenged to train police officers in a geographically dispersed area with six different governments, 12 different cultures and nine different languages.
His new book, “Micronesian Blues” (with Cynthia Morris, Paladin Press 2009) tells the story of his six years of training police in this former U.S. Trust Territory during the Micronesian Islands’ transition to independence. It chronicles his adventures and misadventures as he discovered – through trial and error – the do’s and don’ts of cross-cultural police training.
An instructive postscript details the “10 important lessons” Vila learned during his time in Micronesia.
“No one prepared me for the job or what it would entail,” he said. “I had to learn most things on my own through trial and error. Unfortunately, not much has changed when it comes to preparing cops or soldiers for cross-cultural police training assignments today.
“That’s one of the reasons I felt it was so important to write this book – to share the lessons I learned about cross-cultural policing 30 years ago that are still relevant today,” Vila said.
Among the keys to success in cross-cultural police training are having an understanding of the culture of the host country and at least basic language skills. So are choosing the right trainers and recruits, customizing training programs to fit local needs, respecting local customs without compromising core values, and recognizing that change takes time.
“But perhaps most importantly, if you go into any international police training situation with a ‘them and us’ mentality, you’ll never be effective,” Vila said. “I learned that early on in Micronesia, so I participated in the local culture whenever possible – which meant drinking sakau on Ponape, squatting in the dirt and chewing betel nut until my jaws ached on Yap, eating fruit bat on Palau, bellowing in a deep voice and enduring crushing handshakes on Truk, and going to church on Kosrae.
“And it worked,” he said, “because insiders, not outsiders, make the most effective change agents.”
For more information, visit the “Micronesian Blues” website at www.micronesianblues.com.
