Sending police officers back to school
Back to school
For ten days, hundreds of uniformed members of the Macedonian police forces could be seen flocking to classrooms throughout the country, where they were trained by a team of 18 trainers and legal experts about their role before, during and after the day of the parliamentary elections, due to take place on 15 September.
The country's Ministry of the Interior and the OSCE Mission's Police Development Unit, supported by other organizations based in Skopje worked closely together to carry out a whistle-stop tour to a total of 15 different venues in the country.
Learning about elections
Apart from learning about their role on election day, each group of officers spent the day in a classroom to discuss the importance of elections in a democracy. They also reviewed the basic professional standards expected of the police in upholding the principles of free and fair elections.
As a result, the training improved the participants' ability to handle election-related situations, including crowd control during election campaign rallies and securing polling stations on election day in accordance with the provisions of national legislation.
"Credit goes to the police for this", said Ambassador Craig Jenness, Head of the OSCE Mission. "While we have used our expertise to help them develop the course, they were the ones that made it possible and who made it a success".
Increasing public confidence
"It's a real achievement to train 3,300 police officers in just ten days. I of course am very proud that the OSCE Mission was able to assist, and I am grateful to our staff and others who worked countless hours to make it happen. The officers who participated were genuinely committed to doing all they could to ensure an atmosphere of calm and security on 15 September," said Jenness.
Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann, Director of OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), added: "As a result of this project, we hope that the police are now better prepared to effectively provide a secure environment for the elections in full accordance with relevant international standards and national legislation. This will also help to increase the level of public confidence in the electoral process and the role of the law enforcement authorities."
Training for the future
The project was initiated by the Ministry of the Interior in co-operation with the Police Development Unit of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission in Skopje. It was funded by the Open Society Institute Foundation and the Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute.
Both organizations covered the costs of the printed materials that complemented the training, and which will be used in the future to pass on the accumulated expertise to other members of the country's police forces.
The OSCE/ODIHR also provided two trainers, whose participation in the project was funded by the European Agency for Reconstruction.
For ten days, hundreds of uniformed members of the Macedonian police forces could be seen flocking to classrooms throughout the country, where they were trained by a team of 18 trainers and legal experts about their role before, during and after the day of the parliamentary elections, due to take place on 15 September.
The country's Ministry of the Interior and the OSCE Mission's Police Development Unit, supported by other organizations based in Skopje worked closely together to carry out a whistle-stop tour to a total of 15 different venues in the country.
Learning about elections
Apart from learning about their role on election day, each group of officers spent the day in a classroom to discuss the importance of elections in a democracy. They also reviewed the basic professional standards expected of the police in upholding the principles of free and fair elections.
As a result, the training improved the participants' ability to handle election-related situations, including crowd control during election campaign rallies and securing polling stations on election day in accordance with the provisions of national legislation.
"Credit goes to the police for this", said Ambassador Craig Jenness, Head of the OSCE Mission. "While we have used our expertise to help them develop the course, they were the ones that made it possible and who made it a success".
Increasing public confidence
"It's a real achievement to train 3,300 police officers in just ten days. I of course am very proud that the OSCE Mission was able to assist, and I am grateful to our staff and others who worked countless hours to make it happen. The officers who participated were genuinely committed to doing all they could to ensure an atmosphere of calm and security on 15 September," said Jenness.
Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann, Director of OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), added: "As a result of this project, we hope that the police are now better prepared to effectively provide a secure environment for the elections in full accordance with relevant international standards and national legislation. This will also help to increase the level of public confidence in the electoral process and the role of the law enforcement authorities."
Training for the future
The project was initiated by the Ministry of the Interior in co-operation with the Police Development Unit of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission in Skopje. It was funded by the Open Society Institute Foundation and the Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute.
Both organizations covered the costs of the printed materials that complemented the training, and which will be used in the future to pass on the accumulated expertise to other members of the country's police forces.
The OSCE/ODIHR also provided two trainers, whose participation in the project was funded by the European Agency for Reconstruction.