Annual meeting of “Police Persons of Trust” organized with support of OSCE Mission to Montenegro

A two-day annual meeting of “Police Persons of Trust”, organized by the Police Directorate with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Centre for Integrity in the Defence Sector from Norway, begun on 7 December in Budva.

Some 30 participants from the Police Directorate, security centres from eight Montenegrin cities, the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions and Ministry of Defence discussed with experts from Norway and the United States the concept of police persons of trust as a mechanism to promote gender mainstreaming and integrity in the police.

Referring to Mission’s continuous support for women advance through the ranks of the police, Siv-Katrine Leirtroe, Deputy Head of the Mission, stated that the Persons of Trust network is recognized as one of the key mechanisms to advocate for gender equality in the service. “In addition to projects, campaigns and activities that promote equality between men and women in the police, the OSCE supports development of a gender training curriculum and trains police officers on gender awareness. These officers facilitate in-service gender training of their colleagues, ensuring sustainability of our joint efforts,” said Leirtroe, adding that through the activities of the Persons of Trust, more women may feel empowered to assume leadership positions within the Police.

Biljana Dulović, Head of the Human Resources and Legal Affairs Service in the Police Directorate, said that the Police Directorate continuously implement measures to improve gender equality. “We pay great attention to the education of employees and the improvement of mechanisms to combat discrimination. One mechanism is the professional empowerment of ‘persons of trust’, who serve as contact persons in specific security centres and departments,” said Dulović, adding that this seminar will help person of trust to make their role and importance more visible, creating a better working environment.

Persons of trust are experienced and trustworthy colleagues whom the police officers can approach in confidentiality and ask for advice and support. The police ‘persons of trust’ primary task is to promote gender awareness in-service and develop communication with the community.