Since 2003, when the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian police signed their first memorandum of understanding, the Office has successfully implemented a number of projects focusing on the introduction of democratic policing practices.

A further memorandum of co-operation signed in 2008 outlined a strategy of deeper co-operation with the police, and stipulated the main areas of long-term support that the Office would provide. Based on the memorandum of co-operation, two joint OSCE-police working groups were set up, which designed the Concept for Police Educational Reforms and the Strategy for the Implementation of a Community Policing Model throughout Yerevan.

In addition to these documents, the Office carried out the following surveys in 2009:

• Police accountability;
• Police-media relations;
• Public order management; and
• Opinion polls in Yerevan and all Armenian provinces to evaluate the public perception of the police.

Police reform

In October 2009, a working group on police reform was established under the auspices of the Armenian National Security Council, and the Office was invited to take part. The Chair of the working group informed the Office that the police reforms would derive from the surveys, the Concept and the Strategy which it had developed, and on 31 March 2010, the OSCE-supported Police Reform Programme was approved by the Armenian Government.

The Police Reform Programme covers the following 11 areas:

1. Structural and organizational reform;
2. Education;
3. Traffic safety;
4. Improving the protection of citizens' constitutional rights and freedoms;
5. Amendment of the procedures for granting (or terminating) citizenship, exit and entry of foreigners, and improvement of migration administration;
6. Introduction of a new passport system;
7. Increasing the effectiveness measures to combat trafficking and illicit drugs;
8. Increasing the effectiveness of measures to combat organized crime, corruption, money laundering and cyber-crime;
9. Improving co-operation with other agencies and organizations;
10. Building confidence in the police; and
11. Improving police officers' social and legal security.

Community policing

The official launch of the OSCE Office-supported community policing project was marked by the signing of the Agreement on the Implementation of Community Policing in Arabkir District in March 2007. At the outset of the project, a series of introductory seminars and roundtables were held to raise awareness of the concept of community-based and problem-oriented policing among police officers, the business community, local authorities and civil society in Arabkir District.

Following the establishment of a pilot Community Policing Unit (CPU) in Arabkir Police Department, the Office provided the required expertise, resources and training sessions. It also facilitated the formation of Citizens' Advisory Groups comprising local residents. The first of these Groups started work in April 2009, and since then has held regular meetings with the CPU to find local solutions to local security problems.

In summer 2008, the CPU and the OSCE jointly organized two police open days to showcase the new service-oriented and partnership-based style of policing. There are plans to hold similar events on a regular basis to support the improvement of the police's image and to build confidence.

Two Arabkir District police outreach stations were officially opened on 19 June 2009. These were constructed with the support of the Office in an effort to bring the police closer to the local community. In the same period, the territorial coverage of the CPU was expanded and the number of police officers increased to fifteen.

Apart from full-scale induction training on community policing for the CPU staff, a number of tailored training courses were delivered by international experts to further develop the officers' skills in modern policing techniques. Topics included field training supervision, street intelligence, daily activity reports and crime scene investigation.

The community policing model currently deployed in the pilot project in Arabkir District, which is designed to improve police-community relationships by the decentralization and empowerment of the police within a relevant accountability framework, will serve as a model for rolling out community policing across Armenia.

To evaluate the impact of the project, three community surveys were commissioned: a baseline project pre-implementation survey (March 2008), an expanded zone survey (February 2009) and a survey to measure public opinion after the first full year of project implementation (February 2009). The findings showed a tangible improvement in the public perception of the police service and a greater public commitment to involvement in police-public partnerships.

The joint OSCE-police Working Group, taking into account the experience of the Arabkir District pilot project, streamlines the process of development and the adoption of a community policing model for Armenia, and its recommendations have been taken into consideration in the Police Reform Programme.

Police-media relations

In 2009, the Office organized a series of roundtables on police-media relations in all Armenian provinces to raise awareness of the importance of good co-operation and to dispel the existing mistrust between the two sides.

At the roundtables, the provincial police and media representatives discussed various issues of concern, assessed their existing relations, highlighted the problems and cited actual cases where co-operation and trust had been impeded. The problems and recommendations identified at the roundtables have been consolidated in a single report, which forms the basis for determining follow-up activities in 2010.

Police education

After the refurbishment and re-equipment of the Police Centre for Induction Training (CIT), the Office embarked on facilitating the modernization of the CIT curriculum. The future framework and content of the curriculum has been discussed between the Armenian police, the CIT management and faculty and the OSCE, including a representative of the Organization's Strategic Police Matters Unit.

When the modernization of the CIT curriculum with the Office's support was under way, it was realized that it might be expanded to cover the entire Armenian police education system, including the necessary changes to the training process of the Armenian Police Academy. The idea was supported by the Head of the Armenian police, and in early 2009 a joint order was issued establishing a working group to improve the police educational system.

From March-June 2009, the working group held 20 sessions resulting in the drafting of the Concept of the Police Education Reform, which has been approved by Armenia's leadership and underlies the education reform component of the Police Reform Programme. The Programme will be carried out in 2010-11 under the auspices of the Security Council working group on police reform, with the Office's support.

Public order management

To support bringing Armenia's public order management strategies, tactics and techniques into line with international best practices, the Office conducted a public order management needs assessment in 2009. The chief objective of the assessment was to identify the main directions for strategic development of public order management. It focused on evaluation of the existing organizational set-up, operational procedures, human resources, sufficiency of specialized equipment, etc. The findings have resulted in over forty recommendations designed to provide for effective public order management.