Explanatory notes:
Tasks:
M Monitoring the implementation of an agreement. This task, when mandated to a certain mission, was/is not necessarily performed by UN police within the mission. The other task categories apply specifically to the police personnel in a mission.
S Substitution (interim administration with executive powers)
O Operations/ Operational support to host state police (e.g. executive policing, riot control, maritime or border security assistance, anti-trafficking operations, protection of civilians)
T/R Training/Reforming (advising, mentoring, SSR, etc.)
SSR: Security Sector Reform
DDR: Disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration
RoL: Development Law Enforcement sector
SFA: Security Forces Assistance
Personnel: Maximum realised international staff
Police staff: Ongoing and completed NATO Missions employing police capabilities, running from 2000 onwards
Ongoing and completed OSCE field operations with police staff, running from 2000 onwards
Mission (Country) Tasks (relevant for this report) Personnel Police staff1 Duration
IFOR (BiH) SSR: Support to DDR and support to RoL 60,000 12/1995 – 12/1996
SFOR (BiH) SSR: Support to DDR and support to RoL 32,0002 12/1996 - 12/2004
KFOR (Kosovo) SSR: DDR, SFA, and support to RoL3
S, O, T/R, M
5,0004 6/1999 – present
Essential Harvest (FYROM) SSR: Support to DDR 4,8005 8/2001 - 10/2001
Allied Harmony (FYROM) SSR: SFA6 450 12/2002 - 4/2003
ISAF (Afghanistan) SSR: SFA7, RoL
(S), O, T/R
130,0008
87,000
8/20039 - 12/2014
NTM-I (Iraq) SSR: SFA10
T/R
Appr. 200 Appr. 6011 8/2004 - 12/2011
Resolute Support (Afghanistan) SSR: SFA12, RoL
O, T/R
13,500 1/2015 – present

Sources: websites of NATO HQ, NATO ACO, NATO ACT, specific missions, and other open sources.

NATO does not specifically ask for certain personnel for its missions and does not register data on the specific filling of posts in missions as far as the background nature of the personnel is concerned. Therefore, it is not possible to specify how many police or gendarmerie staff NATO has deployed in its missions.
At the start (1997); at the end, when handed over to the EU in December 2004, the total strength was approx. 7,000.
From 1999 – 2008 KFOR’s main effort was sustaining a safe and secure environment, already being involved in SFA. From 2008 onwards KFOR has conducted SFA to the Kosovo Security Force (a paramilitary force responsible for security tasks that are not appropriate for regular police). KFOR assists in the RoL programs and in DPRE relocation, and has tasks with regard to security & public order, security of ethnic minorities, protection of patrimonial sites, and border security.
KFOR had 50,000 troops at its height, slimming down to 14,000 in 2008. Currently approximately 5,000.
The force was planned to be 3,500 troops, but countries offered higher contributions than estimated up front.
Subtask area: Advise
ISAF transformed over the years from ‘security provider’ to security provider & SFA performer, conducting SFA along the US concept of OTERA (organise, train, equip, [re-]build, advice & assist) for the subtask areas. As of 6/2013 the balance of effort was reversed, ISAF became firstly SFA performer, but remained to be a back-up security provider. Of OTERA, the T and A&A have been continued until 12/2014, but from the 2nd quarter of 2014 with the focus narrowing to selected strategic functions (Functionally Based SFA).
At its height after the 2009 personnel surge in order to break Taliban insurgency momentum. In 2013 this was back to approximately 87,000 troops, with a planned and phased further redeployment of troops starting in 2014 towards the end date of ISAF.
ISAF was under NATO command from 6/2003, but the international mission started in 12/2001
Subtask areas Train, Mentor, and Advise, and some Enable (training-, instruction-, and education-materiel). NTM-I was in essence a train-the-trainers mission.
These were provided by Italy, delivered from their gendarmerie Force, the ‘Carabinieri’. Their specific task within NTM-I was the training of the Iraqi Police - as opposed to the other contingents that for the largest part dealt with training of the Iraqi Armed Forces.
Subtask areas Train, Advise, and Assist. The Resolute Support Mission builds on ISAF’s last phase.