OSCE Mission to Skopje supports police in preventing problems and crime in local communities

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Interior Minister officially launched on 7 October 2013 a Mission-supported project on the Regional Prevention Action Plan (RPAP) in Skopje. The project aims at supporting the police in designing prevention activities to address specific problems in local communities throughout the country.

The activities focus on the prevention of theft (a problem mostly affecting elderly citizens), improvement of school safety by establishing ‘Prevention Clubs’ in primary and secondary schools as well as traffic safety classes for primary school students. The project will also address specific local concerns in other parts of the country, such as preventing sports violence, drug and alcohol abuse among youth, and improving road and water safety.

As part of the project, police officers will be trained on key principles of community policing to improve their problem-solving capacities and skills of dealing with communities in a multi-ethnic society.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ralf Breth, said that the project will be a “step forward in handing over the community policing initiatives supported by the Mission to local partners.”

The OSCE Mission to Skopje has been assisting the Interior Ministry in the development of a democratically-based and community-oriented police service since 2002.