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OSCE Skopje Mission and Dutch Embassy support community policing activists
SKOPJE 1 July 2004
SKOPJE, 1 July 2004 - The OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje today began a training session for more than 300 members of Citizens Advisory Groups, which have been created with the OSCE Mission's assistance to support the implementation of a community policing initiative.
The goal of the exercise is to enable the Citizens Advisory Groups, established throughout the country as forums for local citizens and members of the police, to improve their co-operation with the law enforcement bodies and local authorities. At the same time, the training sessions aim at ensuring the sustainability of the Advisory Groups, in particular in face of the planned territorial re-organization and power decentralization process in the country.
"The Citizens Advisory Groups are the foundation of the community policing concept," said David Tingle, Head of the OSCE Mission's Police Development Unit.
"By providing training to the ordinary citizens who are members of the Groups we hope to increase their effectiveness. Once trained in local self-governance, partnership building, problem solving and project proposal writing, the Groups will be able to play a major role in ensuring the delivery of quality police services at the municipal level."
Michiel Servaes from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is providing financial support to the community policing initiative, added: "Only good co-operation between citizens and the police over a period of time can lead to the creation of a safe and functional community".
The initiative, which is scheduled to end on 27 July, is also being supported by the Open Society Institute Foundation (FOSIM).
The goal of the exercise is to enable the Citizens Advisory Groups, established throughout the country as forums for local citizens and members of the police, to improve their co-operation with the law enforcement bodies and local authorities. At the same time, the training sessions aim at ensuring the sustainability of the Advisory Groups, in particular in face of the planned territorial re-organization and power decentralization process in the country.
"The Citizens Advisory Groups are the foundation of the community policing concept," said David Tingle, Head of the OSCE Mission's Police Development Unit.
"By providing training to the ordinary citizens who are members of the Groups we hope to increase their effectiveness. Once trained in local self-governance, partnership building, problem solving and project proposal writing, the Groups will be able to play a major role in ensuring the delivery of quality police services at the municipal level."
Michiel Servaes from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is providing financial support to the community policing initiative, added: "Only good co-operation between citizens and the police over a period of time can lead to the creation of a safe and functional community".
The initiative, which is scheduled to end on 27 July, is also being supported by the Open Society Institute Foundation (FOSIM).