The paper analyzes the reform of security policies in Burkina Faso following the 2014 political transition. The objective is to explain why, five years after the collapse of the Compaoré regime, changes in security policies are still incremental. The article contends that this incrementalism is the result of the continuity in the political personnel and lack of programmatic innovation. It demonstrates nevertheless that, in time of crisis, this absence of programmatic alternative does not lead to inertia and can lead to a shift in the doctrine and the governance of the security sector.