OSCE Neighbourhood Watch improves citizen safety in Bishkek

Safety in public areas is a common concern for citizens. Until recently in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, many people felt insecure in their own homes, not to mention public spaces. Most residents hardly knew each other, even after years of living in close proximity. Often, people were left alone with their insecurity and did not know what to do in difficult situations or where to go for help.

To help alleviate the situation, the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, in co-operation with Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs, decided in 2007 to launch an initiative to help build up trust and co-operation between citizens and law enforcement officers in the Bishkek city centre. Called Neighbourhood Watch, the project initially ran in a pilot location in the Sverdlovsky district, known for its high crime rate.

Tarmo Vikma, the Community Policing Advisor at the OSCE Centre who came up with the idea for the project, explains that the Neighbourhood Watch model had been practiced effectively in his home country, Estonia, and this encouraged him to adapt it to the situation in Bishkek.

Under the project, part of the Centre's Police Reform Programme, a mechanism of communication was set up between local police officers and domkoms - elected representatives of apartment block residents. Discussions were organized with residents and information campaigns were conducted on public security.

Neighbourhood security improved

Two years later, the results of the project are encouraging. Fifty-four Neighbourhood Watch sectors have been set up and are operating in Bishkek's city centre. Seminars and training courses are held for adults and children on safety issues and co-operation with authorities and law enforcement agencies. A website has been set up at www.dozor.in.kg to inform citizens about planned activities and booklets and printed materials have been distributed among the city dwellers.

Neighbourhood Watch has started to win recognition among the Kyrgyz authorities and law enforcement agencies. The Chief of the Public Order Department of the Bishkek City Police Department, Melis Abdrakhmanov, expresses his satisfaction: "Due to this crime prevention initiative, there has been a notable decrease in crime statistics where the project has been implemented."

Most importantly, the programme has earned the trust of the people. Communication between residents and their neighbourhood inspectors has increased on many issues ranging from municipal services to information on suspicious persons in the area. People have begun to look out for each other as they did in the old days.

Authorities request programme expansion

In his 24 March television address, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiev, identified increasing the role of local self-government and communities in the provision of public order and building partnerships between civil society and the police as one of the priorities of police reform.

The positive impact of Neighbourhood Watch on crime prevention has prompted Police Chief Abdrakhmanov to request that the project be extended beyond the city centre to the other three district areas of Bishkek.

Moreover, the Kyrgyz Minister of Internal Affairs, Moldomusa Kongantiev, declaring 2009 the Year of Social Partnership, has expressed his strong support for the expansion of the Neighbourhood Watch programme across the country. Following a proposal made by Minister Kongantiev at a May meeting between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the OSCE, a roundtable has been planned for August to raise the awareness of the wider community about the project and discuss further steps to advance it.

Despite the progress achieved so far, living in safety remains a challenge for the people of Bishkek. It is important that as many residents as possible be involved in the community policing movement. Every effort to strengthen co-operation between the public and the police helps to discourage criminals. With the Neighbourhood Watch programme, citizens have begun, by their own efforts, to build up a wall of safety in their communities, one brick at a time.