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Police and community of Chernihiv – result-oriented cooperation
This and more were discussed on June 21 at a roundtable discussion on the topic “Police and the community of Chernihiv: ways of interaction” at the “Clean Politics” press center. The event was attended by the heads of the Chernihiv Police Department of the National Police, the City Patrol Service Department, deputies of the Chernihiv City Council, representatives of the public and the media.
The Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights is implementing the project “Safe City – Chernihiv Police, Community-Oriented”. The goal of such an initiative is to establish a transparent, effective and accountable to the community security system of the city of Chernihiv. Establishing interaction and cooperation with the public, local communities and representatives of local government. Also, according to the provisions of the initiative, territorial police bodies should report to city residents.
The head of programs of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights
Kateryna Dankova
.
After the adoption of the Law of Ukraine on the National Police, we see that the level of trust in law enforcement agencies has generally increased. According to this law, public control should be exercised over the police. The law clearly spells out the ways and methods of such interaction. Among them is regular reporting by law enforcement agencies to the community, – noted
Kateryna Dankova
.
The head of the human rights project also believes that a very important norm in the new law is that the police, together with the public, can work within the framework of joint projects. According to her, such measures should increase trust in the police and make its work more effective. An important mechanism for cooperation is the participation of the community in considering complaints, actions and inaction of the police.
Given the topic of the round table, which concerns the openness of law enforcement officers, the next speaker was the head of the Chernihiv Police Department of the Main Police Department in the Chernihiv region
Serhiy Kagitin
.
– The main priority of our activities is to ensure the protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms. And we are ready to inform the community about the state of affairs in the city and about our actions in this regard. Even if the news is not encouraging. And the news, as it turned out, is really not encouraging. After all, according to the head of the Chernihiv Police, there is an increase in the crime rate in the city.
– Compared to last year, this indicator has increased by 25 percent. Since the beginning of the year, 30 thousand applications and reports from citizens about crimes and offenses have been registered, 5 thousand have been entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, 800 cases have been sent to court, 291 persons have been brought to justice. If we take the statistics as of February, then the increase in crime was 48 percent. That is, we have a positive result, – noted Mr.
Kagitin
.
It is no secret that the national police is currently going through a difficult stage of reform.
Sergey Kagitin
on this occasion noted:
– The reform consists, first of all, in changing the consciousness of each police officer, in the transition from punitive functions to service functions. The National Police is, first of all, a service. Our task is also to create a professional core. Currently, re-certification of employees is underway.
Also, according to him, thanks to the patrol police, the response to citizens’ applications and messages has been significantly accelerated. In addition to “live” patrolling, online patrolling will also be conducted.
– By September, video surveillance cameras will be installed in Chernihiv under the “Safe City” program. I hope that after this, crime detection will improve, as happened in Pryluky, where the system started working a week ago and has already borne fruit, – noted
Serhiy Kagitin
.
During the 4 months of work of the patrol police in Chernihiv, 22 thousand events were recorded, 15 thousand of which were reported by citizens. Such conclusions of police cooperation with the community were reported by the deputy head of the department – head of the material support department of the patrol police department of Chernihiv
Volodymyr Mazko
.
– The total number of calls has increased. This may indicate that trust in us is growing. If we take the first month of work, the arrival time of our employees on call was 16 minutes. In just 3 months, this time has decreased to 12 minutes. This indicates that we respond to requests and have learned to work a little better, – noted
Volodymyr Mazko
.
Deputies of the Chernihiv City Council took an active part in the discussion. In particular, the importance of interaction between the city, community and police was emphasized by the head of the deputy commission on regulations, legality, rights and freedoms of citizens and prevention of corruption of the city council
Maksym Chernenok
.
– Now the interaction is intensifying. As previously noted, a decision was made to monitor the situation, in particular, to install surveillance cameras. I believe this is a very important step. Because security is no less important than the issue of ecology or wages. It is the foundation of human rights and freedoms. And the city government should take more responsibility for this issue. In many countries, public security is even financed from city budgets, – gave an example
Maksym Chernenok
.
According to him, the amount for the cameras, which is significant, will pay for itself. But not with money, but with quality.
“Communication between the police, the public and local government bodies should become one of the main factors in restoring trust in the law enforcement system and ensuring law and order in the region,” – summed up the executive director of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, deputy of the Chernihiv City Council
Viktor Tarasov
.
During the event, the participants discussed the main priorities for the development of the national police in the city and the level of interaction between local governments, the national police, and public organizations aimed at improving public safety in the city of Chernihiv, the problems faced by law enforcement agencies, and the issue of personnel renewal.
As a result of the event, the participants agreed to coordinate their work and developed a common vision of documents aimed at improving public safety in the city of Chernihiv, which should be presented to the public in the near future.
The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the assistance of the Chernihiv Police Department of the Main Department of National Police of Ukraine in the Chernihiv region as part of the implementation of the project “Safe City – Chernihiv Police, Community-Oriented” with the support of the Program Initiative “Human Rights and Justice” of the International Renaissance Foundation.