Reports from across Haiti’s ten departments in 2023 painted a consistent and alarming picture: the Haitian National Police was losing ground in virtually every region of the country, with gang and criminal networks expanding their influence beyond Port-au-Prince into provincial areas that had previously maintained relative security. The simultaneous deterioration across multiple departments suggested a coordinated criminal expansion rather than isolated local developments.
In the Artibonite department, gang activity along major road networks was disrupting market access and agricultural operations across what had been one of Haiti’s most economically active regions. Police units that attempted to contest gang positions along strategic corridors reported coming under fire from well-armed opponents and being forced to withdraw. The loss of road control had direct economic consequences that rippled through the entire department.
In the North department, criminal networks that had previously operated at lower levels of organization and violence were adopting tactics and organizational structures modeled on the Port-au-Prince gangs, escalating their activities and testing the limits of police capacity. Cap-Haïtien, the north’s largest city and a relative oasis of stability, was experiencing increasing insecurity in surrounding areas.
The nationwide expansion of gang activity created a crisis that exceeded any plausible police response capacity. With approximately 13,000 officers for a country of 11 million people facing organized criminal networks across ten departments, the mathematical impossibility of an adequate police response was apparent. International partners providing equipment and training acknowledged that structural reinforcement — a security mission — was essential alongside capacity building efforts.