This article addresses the challenges of policing on UN and coalition stability operations and assesses efforts to achieve host nation police primacy, defined as a situation where indigenous police have the main responsibility for internal security and maintaining the rule of law. The article offers a broad perspective, identifying and discussing common, re-occurring problems that have beset policing operations and assessing national and international efforts to make better use of foreign and host nation police assets. Although national and international staffs have worked hard to improve policing capabilities over the last 20 years, the provision of effective policing for stability operations will continue to challenge the international community, not least because different perceptions of national interests, domestic political constraints, and bureaucratic inertia continue to impact police capabilities negatively