understanding of the police work. Schoolchildren also visited respective Police Departments. In addition to the interactive lectures on Police objectives and main areas of activity, presentations on trafficking in human beings, drug abuse and corruption were delivered by the police and relevant brochures distributed to juveniles. Overall, more than 300 schoolchildren, school principals and teachers were involved in the project. The Police Open Days were comprehensively covered by regional and national mass-media. In October, the Office, jointly with the Yerevan Police Department, organized a series of activities as part of the “Safe School Initiative” which served as a good example of cooperation and partnership between the police and different layers of civil society. This initiative was a follow-up from the Office-supported study visit to the Netherlands in April 2012 for a group of Armenian police officers to learn about the Dutch experience of policeschool partnerships. The activities were organized in schools 189 and 130 in the Arabkir and Mashtots districts of Yerevan, and aimed at addressing security problems in schools, such as drugs and smoking, road safety, cases of violence and enhancing co-operation between the police and local communities. The events included meetings between district CPOs, school students, faculty staff and parents, as well as presentations on the community policing concept. Prior to the initiative, a survey had been conducted by CPOs among students to identify their most pressing security concerns. The results of the survey were presented and discussed at the school meetings. Overall, 200 schoolchildren and 60 police officers participated in the events. The promotion of gender equality has been one of the goals of the Office’s community policing activities. In 2012, the Office constantly monitored the gender balance in the Outreach Stations. The Office assisted the police in adhering to the gender factor within the community policing concept. The Charter on Community Policing therefore indicates that out of six police officers in each community policing zone, at least two of them should be female officers. The Office also encouraged and facilitated the participation of female police officers in police-related projects, such as Police Open Days and the Safety School Initiative. Furthermore, the Office continued to monitor the admission process in the Police Educational Complex, and facilitated the work of the Independent Admission Commission. The percentage of females admitted to police educational institutions increased up to 20%. In 2012, the Office, jointly with the NGO Armenian Association of Criminologists, conducted a Public Opinion Poll on the Activities of the Police Departments of Yerevan and regional Police Departments across the country. The aim of the survey was to assess the general public perception regarding the role and activities of the police, and to identify shortcomings in police-public relations. The final report of the project was presented in the Armenian Police HQ. The leadership of the Police and the Heads of territorial Police Departments attended the event. The police officials praised the in-depth survey and emphasized that its findings would become landmarks determining the future Police-Public Partnership Strategy. In September, the new official website of the Armenian Police was developed and launched with the support of the Office. The updated website, www.police.am, aims to provide greater transparency of the police work and enhance police-citizen interaction. The website provides a comprehensive overview of daily police activities; information about police structures and reform programmes; vacancy announcements; as well as police TV programmes, and messages in newspapers, on the radio, etc. The website also provides a map of Armenian regional Police Departments, police entities, points of contact, telephone numbers, etc. The new website also allows citizens to find information about their CPOs and to have access to various administrative documents and forms. A hotline number makes it possible to promptly inform the police of problems that citizens might encounter while the “Support to Citizens” section of the website enables citizens to report violations and misconduct of police representatives. 121