OSCE Mission to Skopje supports training course for new police inspectors

SKOPJE, 15 September 2008 - A three-week training course on community policing organized by the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje started today in the southern village of Krani.

The 98 participants, all Inspectors of Prevention who will work as community police officers, will learn planning and management, confidence building, conflict resolution and mediation, media and police relations as well as policing in multi-ethnic environment.

The OSCE Mission is organizing the course in co-operation with the Interior Ministry.

"These local prevention officers will be the first contact for citizens when they work with police to prevent crime in their communities. They are a key tool in the community policing concept," said Raymond Hirons, the Acting Head of the Mission's Police Development Department.

Slave Vitanov, a Senior Police Advisor in the Interior Ministry, added:

"Through this training, we hope to strengthen the Interior Ministry's capacities in preventive policing. Strengthening preventive policing and developing partnerships with the citizens in order to create a safe living environment forms the basis of our police reforms."