A street intercept strategy to research police corruption in Afghanistan

ABSTRACT

Conducting research in an armed-conflict setting can be a daunting task when faced with security, logistical and recruitment challenges. Moreover, when working with local agents for translation purposes there are additional problems with the veracity and accuracy of the research. However, there are various strategies to mitigate these problems that include a street-intercept strategy and training interpreters. This article provides a methodological insight into a study on police corruption in the Afghan police force. Recruitment of Afghan police officers was built on a street-intercept strategy and the interpreters utilized were trained and tested on language proficiency in English. The local company also specialized in logistics and security awareness that proved useful when relocating from Kabul to neighbouring provinces due to insecurity. This strategy can be considered by researchers when faced with security, access and logistical issues in volatile conflict settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Afghan police
• street intercept
• translation services
• sampling
• security challenges

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the private translation firm for their expertise in security, logistics and assistance with accessing police units in predominantly Kabul and Nangarhar.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Danny Singh is a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology at Teesside University. His primary research interests are corruption, clientelism, security sector reform and human rights in war-torn states, namely Afghanistan, where he has conducted field research. He has published peer-reviewed articles on police and judicial reform and anti-corruption strategy in Conflict, Security & Development, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding and the Journal of Developing Societies respectively.