Cops in Kabul is the thrilling personal account of retired RCMP Superintendent William C. Malone, who was the deputy Canadian police commander in Kabul, Afghanistan, from May 2011 to May 2012. His serious and at times hilarious story of working with military personnel, diplomats, and civil society organizations highlights the challenges of trying to bring about security and the rule of law in a theatre of war.

From 2003 to 2014, Canada played an integral role as part of the NATO coalition in Afghanistan. The Government of Canada sent its military and diplomats to that war-torn country to help bring about peace. One little-known fact about Canada’s contribution during the eleven-year conflict was the presence of almost 300 Canadian police from across the country who volunteered to help train, mentor, and build the capacity of the Afghan National Police. Canada’s mission was to help Afghans rebuild their country as a stable, democratic, and self-sufficient society.

Canada, along with dozens of other nations and international organizations, was engaged at the request of the democratically elected Afghan government to work within the United Nations–mandated and NATO-led mission in the Central Asian nation. This one-year snapshot takes a fascinating look at the bravery demonstrated by Canadian peacekeepers in a volatile and dangerous place.

William C. Malone was born in the central Newfoundland town of Buchans and grew up in Mount Pearl. He attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, graduating in 1987 with a bachelor of business administration degree. In 1988, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and served in the provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador before retiring in January of 2015. During his tenure in the RCMP, he worked in the areas of organized crime, national security, proceeds of crime, counterterrorism, and international peacekeeping. On several occasions he also represented Canada as a law-enforcement expert with the Financial Action Task Force, the Asia Pacific Group, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, and the World Bank. Throughout his career in policing, he received a number of honours and recognition, including: Operational Service Medal Expedition—Africa; RCMP Twenty-Five-Year Long Service Medal; Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal; Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal; Operational Service Medal Southwest Asia—Afghanistan; UN Mission in Haiti; and the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal. In April of 2016, after a long career in policing, he began work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as an anti–money laundering expert to help mentor and train law enforcement and judicial authorities in Southern Africa to combat wildlife and environmental crime on the African continent. In 2018, after two years with the UNODC, William C. Malone began working with Verafin as an anti–money laundering, financial crime industry expert.He is married to Nola Noseworthy, and they live in St. John’s with their four daughters.

William C. Malone's profile page