OSCE-supported police outreach stations open in pilot community policing district in Armenia

YEREVAN, 19 June 2009 - Two community police outreach stations opened today in Yerevan as part a joint project by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian Police to introduce community policing in the pilot Arabkir police district in Yerevan.

The outreach stations aim to improve relations and trust between police and the public by increasing police visibility and their capacity to assist the population in solving local problems. OSCE-trained community policing officers will be working at the stations.

"The opening of the outreach stations shows the commitment of the Police and the OSCE to continue to improve police service to the public. We will take the experience from these stations and apply the lessons learned to the future expansion of the community policing model in Armenia," said Carel Hofstra, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

The deputy head of the Arabkir Police Department, Vladimir Avagimyan, added: "The police should be visible and approachable. Gaining support from the public and working closely with the community is crucial in addressing local safety issues. Now it is also up to the public to actively co-operate with the police and engage with the officers in the outreach stations to provide information about local problems."

The police staff at the outreach stations will also work with recently formed Citizen's Advisory Groups in the district.

The community policing project is part of the Office's activities aimed at promoting democratic policing practices. This work also includes projects to further improve police education and to improve police-media relations.

The Police and the OSCE Office in November 2008 signed a co-operation agreement that established two joint working groups on strengthening police-public partnership and improving the police educational system. The groups will present interim results at the end of this month and final recommendations before the end of 2009.

The police outreach stations can be found at the following addresses: Hakobyan str. 11/3 Yerevan, Armenia, tel: (+374 10) 22 90 63; Komitas str. 35/3, tel: (+374 10)32 08 56.