Given the limited human resources of human rights groups, some questioned the sustainability of NGO involvement in that type of citizen security program and in how many places it could be done. Others wondered whether NGOs or community organizations should be the ones providing intellectual resources to establish and manage community policing and security systems. Some participants felt that human rights groups do not have enough of a community base to be effective. However, human rights NGOs can bring to bear insights and criminal justice expertise as well as some ability to access and pressure policy-makers and the media. Considerable discussion focused on the relationship between human rights groups and the state.
Projects are frequently dependent on individual officials and collapse when they leave office.
This turnover implies a risk for human rights groups participating actively in projects. Participants agreed that the state should undertake and implement security programs and that the role of NGOs is to consult and advise. There was no consensus about the level of engagement. For example, some questioned whether it was wise for human rights advocates to become experts on policing techniques or whether it was best to focus more narrowly on human rights related proposals. It was clear from this session that the area of citizen security is very new for human rights groups and calls for innovation.