OSCE Centre in Bishkek contributes to strengthening local crime prevention centres in Jalal-Abad province
KAZARMAN, Kyrgyzstan, 27 September 2010 - A series of two-day training seminars supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek aimed at strengthening local crime prevention centres started today in Kazarman village, Jalal-Abad province.
More than 80 representatives of women associations, youth groups, courts of elderly, local authorities and police from the Toguz-Toroo district of Jalal-Abad province will learn how they can work together to better prevent crime and maintain public order.
Tarmo Viikmaa, Community Policing Adviser at the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, said: "Since 2008, the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, together with the Kyrgyz Police and local authorities, has been working to build a network of local crime prevention centres throughout the republic. This year our focus is on strengthening the capacities of these centres, and the initiative from the Toguz-Toroo centres to participate in seminars to enhance their potential fits this goal."
The seminars will address the legal basis of Local Crime Prevention Centres' work, effective interaction between the police and the public, principles of community policing and concept of social partnership.
Trainers from the civil society group "NurJolBer" and the centre of civic society initiatives "Leader" working in Naryn and Issyk-Kul provinces will share experiences on how to strengthen the centres' capacities.
Suyun Jumalieva, the chairperson of the non-governmental organization "NurJolBer" said: "Provision of public safety cannot be the exclusive responsibility of law enforcement bodies. The public should be an active participant of this process and a full-fledged partner of the police. These training seminars demonstrate how to translate this concept into practice through the activity of local crime prevention centres."
Similar training sessions have been held in Issyk-Kul, Naryn and Talas provinces as part of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek's Police Reform Programme.