OSCE Office in Yerevan supports public discussion of community policing challenges

YEREVAN, 24 February 2010 - An enlarged meeting of the Arabkir district Citizen's Advisory Group was held today in Yerevan as part of a pilot community policing project supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan. 

Representatives from the Arabkir local authorities, police officials and civil society members met to discuss local crime and safety matters and ways to solve them through co-operation and the Citizen's Advisory Group, which meets regularly.

"I am glad that the co-operation between the police and the population is taking ever firmer root in Arabkir," said Carel Hofstra, the Acting Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "This has been one of the goals of the OSCE Office's community policing project all along and I am also very encouraged to see that the police are taking more ownership of this concept and will be expanding it beyond Arabkir as part of the forthcoming police reform programme."

The Chairman of the Citizen's Advisory Group and Representative of Arabkir Administrative District, Samvel Meikyan, presented the activities of the group which aim to address areas of concern for the local community, as well as recommendations to the community policing officers.

"Close co-operation with citizen's advisory groups, councils and other civil society organizations is crucial for police in establishing police-public partnerships. They represent the community, are well-informed about citizens' concerns and should have their input in mobilizing co-operation with police to address safety issues more effectively," said the deputy head of Arabkir Police Department, Vladimir Avagimyan

The pilot community policing project, a joint activity of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian Police, aims to develop democratic policing in Armenia by encouraging co-operation between the police and the public in Arabkir district.