Patrol police offers law enforcement agencies focusing on community

The patrol police are implementing new approach in the law enforcement activity which will focus on the community and its local problems. A new approach of community policing should be based on the partnership of the law enforcement agencies and the citizens to provide safety.

Patrol policeman and one of those responsible for the community policing implementation, Oleksiy Ziborov explains the new approach simply: when the community faces the problems not related to police activities (e.g. no street lighting), the police act as the consultant and direct people to the competent authority. That is, the police help to find a common solution not being engaged in irrelevant work. But such cooperation is impossible without trust and a sense of responsibility.

Patrol police officers say that this model is already working in schools. Specially trained school officers communicate with students, helping them to understand the role and importance of the police, as well as their own responsibilities in abiding the law.

“School students are our future generation, who then will go to work in the police, into politics. It is very important that students are not afraid of the police,” Oleksiy explains.

Patrol policewoman Kateryna Beluhina says that the lessons for students of 1-11 grades have already been developed, focusing not only on traffic rules, but also on a basic self-defense, medicine, situations of domestic violence and so on.

“We have come to schools. Children see us brave and cool, and we want to be such,” she says.

Their colleague, Andriy Tkachev, explains that the community policing is a “new philosophy” of the police activity. The law enforcement officers should carry out service work to ensure the safety of the population.

“This work involves not only the society and the police, it involves the government agencies, the non-governmental organizations. Community policing will encourage all public authorities to reform, and new approach,” he notes.

Head of the National Police Khatia Dekanoidze considers that the reform is very successful. She assures that the patrol officers themselves have initiated the introduction of this new approach.

“Our wonderful project [patrol police] is a success. The patrol police is a success story for the whole country,” Dekanoidze says. However, she adds that the work requires “development, cooperation, and excellence.”

“Society has lofty ideals. Society has standards higher than we have now,” chairwoman of the National Police said.