Community Policing
At the request of the Armenian Police, the Office developed Guidelines for Operational Police
involved in Community Policing. The guidelines were developed as a supportive tool for the
newly appointed Community Police Officers (CPOs) to understand the key issues of the
community policing concept. The guidelines were seen as an easy-to-use tool for
understanding the complex process of community policing and were supported with practical
examples and issues that aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of police work. The
guidelines were developed by an international expert and sent to the Police for consideration.
Later on, they were approved by the Head of Police and distributed to all Yerevan Police
Districts, including Outreach Stations.
In March, a three-week ToT course on “Community Policing” was delivered at the Police
Educational Complex. The target group comprised Deputy Heads for Services who were in
the de-facto lead for community policing in the districts, the Heads of Community Policing
Units and Senior Neighborhood Inspectors. All of the participants were found to be
competent to cascade the knowledge within their own areas of responsibility, and to have the
operational awareness for implementing community policing. At the end of the course, the
Office organized a graduation ceremony at which the Head of Police, members of the Police
Headquarters, as well as the Head of the OSCE Office demonstrated solid commitment to
the requirements and perspectives of community policing. Overall, the course was a success
in educational terms and the presence of the police leadership indicated the determination of
the national counterparts to request continuing support from the OSCE Office in Yerevan for
fostering democratic policing practices, and particularly cascading Community Policing in all
of the Armenian regions. The event was covered by national mass-media.
On 1 June, the deployment of the community policing model throughout Yerevan was
launched. It was envisaged to establish around 40 Community Policing Units with around
300 police officers throughout the city. The plan was to expand the community policing
programme throughout the entire city of Yerevan by the end of 2013. After 2013, the Office
was going to continue to support the Police in cascading community policing skills and
knowledge throughout the entire organization in all of the Armenian regions (marzes), by
organizing awareness-raising campaigns and developing necessary capabilities.
In November, the Office, with the engagement of an international police expert, conducted
meetings in all Police Districts of Yerevan city, specifically with the CPOs, in order to assess
their knowledge on current developments in community policing; and to identify the factors
that supported the concept implementation as well as the difficulties that the officers
experienced during their transition from Neighborhood Inspectors to CPOs. Some 180 CPOs
from the Yerevan Police Districts were involved in these meetings.
In November, the Office also invited an international consultant to assess the first steps of
cascading the community policing model throughout Yerevan. The assessment analysed the
transition from a pilot project in one district to a Yerevan-wide community policing
programme; identified good practices and determined areas of concern. The assessment
also highlighted a number of recommendations for change. Each of the eight territorial
districts was thoroughly analysed. Meetings were also held at the Yerevan Police
Department, which has the oversight of all territorial districts, as well as at the Public Order
Management HQ. The Office’s further assistance in the field of community policing was to be
based on the recommendations of the report.
During the year, the Office, in association with the NGO Police and the National Centre for
Legal Research, conducted a series of Police Open Days in all regions (marzes) of Armenia.
The open days were designed for schoolchildren and were tailored to raise their awareness
of policing in a children-friendly manner. They provided a good opportunity for schoolchildren
to get acquainted with the activities of their province’s police and to gain a better
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