Metro Transit’s Police Chief John Harrington is in Somalia this week on a law enforcement exchange.

MPR says Harrington is meeting with Somalia’s police chief and other government officials, as the East African country works to rebuild its police force after a long civil war and ongoing battles with the terrorist group al-Shabab.

The story says that Metro Transit Police Sgt. Waheid Siraach, who became the first Somali sergeant in the nation in 2013, arranged the chief’s visit. 

And the story says: “Harrington’s visit was sponsored by Bancroft Global Development, a State Department-funded group that advises the African Union forces fighting al-Shabab.”

Harrington, who previously had been chief of police in St. Paul and a state Senator, took charge of the Metro Transit police department in 2012, and has since nearly doubled the number of officers who work on the bus and light rail systems, from 100 to nearly 200.