OSCE Mission to Georgia

The Mission works closely with the OSCE Secretariat's Strategic Police Matters Unit to assist Georgia with its police reform agenda. With the combined expertise of 56 States at its disposal, the OSCE is in a strong position to offer assistance in areas such as community policing, police training, human resource management, general reform, codes of conduct and international standards.

Police Assistance Programme for Georgia

Based on expert assessment findings and recommendations, a Short-term Police Assistance Project (STAP) for the Georgian Police was developed and implemented from September 2005 to March 2006. The STAP was funded through extra-budgetary contributions from Belgium and Norway. 

In 2005, the STAP supported the Ministry of Internal Affairs to develop a comprehensive personnel management system; introduce community policing; introduce a basic police training course and basic criminal investigation course into the Police Academy curriculum, and to repair and equip the library of the Police Academy. Positive achievements led to the formulation of a Police Assistance Programme, launched in 2007, with the following main components.

a) Institution- and capacity building for community policing

• In May 2007, the first community policing seminar for 15 officers from Samtskhe-Javakheti region was conducted.
• The issues of policing in multi-ethnic environments were included into the curriculum, with the contribution of the Police Academy and of a relevant NGO.
• On 1 June 2007, the first "Police Open Day" in one of Tbilisi's police stations was held and was positively covered by Georgian media.
• A drawing competition in the public school No.1 in Borjomi was announced, in which almost 40 children participated. Best drawings were awarded and five drawings were printed on posters and distributed throughout Georgia.
• A study visit in Germany was organized for Georgian senior ministry staff. The issues of criminal prevention and neighborhood policing were addressed and recommendations were forwarded to the Minister of Internal Affairs.
• Several criminal prevention measures were introduced and are under implementation.
• In July 2007 was conducted the second community policing training for officers of the Vake-Saburtalo and Didube-Chugureti districts, as well as for officers representing the patrol police from Tbilisi. Furthermore, the Mission sponsored IT training and IT and communication equipment for all neighborhood officers from pilot sites. The respective police stations were renovated.
• A public opinion poll in three pilot sites was conducted in August 2007.  The results are under consideration in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the aim to develop new strategies to implement Community Policing.
• A national conference on community policing was held in August 2007 and a national concept on community policing was drafted and discussed with all relevant stakeholders in the country.

b) Basic improvement of the human resource management (HRM) system of the Georgian Police

• Two international experts delivered training on interviewing techniques. A special workshop was dedicated to developing structured interviewing models and evaluation of the interview.
• Workshops have been conducted in making job descriptions and in describing the responsibilities of the criminal police.
• A training in basic computer skills was organized for HRM personnel from regions. The description of tasks relating to digitization of personnel records, types of files and forms, necessary software, advice for the set-up of computers were developed.
• Procurement of hardware (30 personal computers and 21 office stations) for personnel units was conducted.
• Workshops on personnel recording were conducted.
• The most suitable testing instruments (psychometric tests) for personnel selection and promotion have been identified together with the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The adaptation of tests to the local cultural and linguistic environment started in August 2007.
• A one-week study trip to Estonia was organized in October 2007 for the designers of the centralized personnel database.

c) Improving the training process at the Police Academy

• An international expert prepared the basic community policing training course and trained local instructors.
• A contracted NGO delivered victim care/domestic violence training for police officers.
• An international expert conducted a train-the-trainers course in modern teaching methods for instructors of the Police Academy.
• An Internet lab was set up in the Police Academy with 10 terminals; the dedicated room was renovated and web research training of instructors was conducted.

d) Police related assistance in the Georgian - South-Ossetia zone of conflict

• For several years the Mission has been providing assistance to law enforcement and police-related activities in the Georgian - South-Ossetia zone of conflict. The aim is to develop law enforcement co-operation between the Georgian and South Ossetia sides on practical issues such as exchange of information, regular meetings, and the establishment of an operative communication centre in the zone of conflict.

In 2008, the Mission, in collaboration with the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, continues to implement projects to improve human resource management, build police-public partnerships, enhance the capacity of the Police Academy and improve capacity in the area of riot control.