OSCE Centre, Kyrgyz officials mark success of community policing in the country

BISHKEK, 22 November 2007 - The OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry held a high-level discussion today to mark three years of close cooperation between the Centre and Kyrgyzstan to establish community policing in the country.

"The security concerns of communities are at the centre of the community policing concept. Population and police are communicating and working together in order to make schools and neighbourhoods a safer place," said Ambassador Muller, the head of the OSCE Center in Bishkek.

High-level government officials from the security ministries, international experts, and representatives of regional police departments participated in the discussions.

"Reliance of the police on communities in security issues is a reaction to the modern changes in the society that require bridging the gap between the police and the population, fostering trust for the police and improving their authority," said Colonel Aleksandr Zelichenko, the head of the Police Reform Centre of the Interior Ministry.

"Fostering the population's trust in community police officers is the basis for improving Kyrgyz police's image and effectiveness in preventing crimes."

The conference gave senior members of the Interior Ministry the opportunity to examine the successes of the first three years of the programme, as well as to discuss and plan the future direction of community policing in the country.