4.3 Mission in Kosovo
On 11 and 12 April, in support to the Kamenicë/Kamenica
Police Station, which was given additional tasks in this
area by the KP, the Mission facilitated a workshop aimed at
enhancing the police accountability and their co-operation
in ensuring security and safety, bringing together ten
representatives of LPSCs and four KP officers from the
municipality. The overall aim was to use the police station’s
performance and engagement as a way of demonstrating
how the Community Policing Strategy for the region can be
successfully implemented.
From 10 April to 2 May, the Mission delivered a number
of capacity-building activities on community policing
to 37 members of four new LPSCs recently established
in four municipalities. The Mission conducted outreach
activities and community meetings with LPSCs, providing
orientation sessions to these members. During these events,
LPSC members were introduced to community safety and
community policing concepts, as well as to the composition,
functionality, and activities of LPSCs in terms of addressing
issues of safety, security, and quality of life. The aim of two
community meetings in each municipality was to provide
LPSC members with an opportunity to establish relationships
with respective communities, municipality officials, police
and other partners, as well as identify local concerns to work
on problem solving activities during the training sessions.
Subsequently, the Mission provided the new members with
two training modules on partnership-building and problem
solving, with additional presentations delivered by police
officers to raise awareness on three key challenges affecting
community safety and security, namely, VERLT, THB and
domestic violence. LPSC members also learned more about
the principles of community safety and security, facilitation
skills and the key components on how to draft and implement
small-scale project proposals and address the important
concerns of their communities.
From 15 April to 2 May, the Mission conducted a series of
workshops on strengthening outreach in local communities
and improving police feedback to the affected community
in eight police regions for over 154 KP and LPSC members.
These workshops aimed at strengthening co-operation
between the KP and LPSCs in addressing incidents and
potential hate crime cases. A focus was placed on helping
community members and police officers to better understand
the importance of working jointly to provide feedback to the
affected community and to help ensure the safety of hate
crime victims.
In April and October, the Mission supported LPSCs in
Obiliq/Obili, Skenderaj/Srbica and Vushtrri/Vućitrn in
facilitating two multi-ethnic youth camps called “Youth for
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Better Future”. Both three-day events aimed at promoting the
multi-ethnic relationship and co-operation between youth of
different ethnicities and to enhance the visibility of LPSCs in
the respective municipalities.
Furthermore, with a view to reducing crime and improving
local safety and security, the Mission supported young
people in establishing links with the KP. The events brought
together 114 young people (aged between 18 and 24) from
secondary and high school students from Kosovo Albanian,
Kosovo Roma, and Kosovo Serb communities, alongside
members of respective LPSCs and sector police officers.
During these activities, the participants learned about
advocacy, negotiation skills and importance of dialogue
and understanding. They were also acquainted with the
consequences of illegal narcotics consumption. In support
of this initiative, various social activities were organized,
enabling participants to establish new friendships in a safe,
friendly, and open environment.
Between 23 and 25 April, the Mission supported LPSC
outreach visits targeted at children belonging to Kosovo
Albanian community in the three northern municipalities of
Mitrovicë/Mitrovica region: Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zvečan/
Zveqan and Zubin Potok. These activities aimed at enhancing
co-operation between community safety forums and
residents, while familiarizing participants with the concept
of community policing, as well as increasing safety awareness
among school age children. The four outreach visits included
quizzes, distribution of safety promotional material and
interactive presentations. Furthermore, the activity aimed
at fostering the Mission’s efforts under the objective
that community security, inter-community relations and
integration are successfully addressed. In total, the events
gathered 192 participants.
From 17 September to 8 November, to help in the
revitalization non-functioning LPSCs, the Mission assisted
the KP Directorate for Community Policing in organizing
five one-day training workshops on partnership-building
and problem-solving for 101 new members of the 15
existing LPSCs from four regions. Each workshop focused
on strengthening the LPSCs’ operational capacity to ensure
sustainability in community safety throughout Kosovo, and to
enhance their co-operation with relevant local and municipal
stakeholders. In addition, the Mission facilitated safety and
security related discussions, highlighting the issues of traffic
safety, school safety, domestic violence, drug abuse and other
negative phenomena, with a view to improving the security
and safety of all communities within the LPSCs’ areas of
responsibility.
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