Police reform program approved

13 / 03 / 2010

The draft of the 2010-2011 police reform program and preparatory activities for conscription in Armenia were the issues discussed at the meeting of the National Security Council. The above mentioned program aims at fulfilling the commitments of our county under the framework of cooperation with the OSCE, European Council and European Union and enhancing public confidence in the police service.

At a press conference after the NSC meeting the National Security Council Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan informed the journalists that these extensive reforms cover all the sectors within the police field. Initially, the changes will have structural nature, police services will be decentralized. Staff reduction is not expected. The establishment of police points in the communities will help rapidly react to citizen applications and grievances.
“The implemented reforms will intensify the fight against trafficking, money laundering, illicit drag circulation, organized crime and corruption and lay a qualitatively new foundation for fight against cyber crimes. Traffic police reforms will further continue, centralized points will be established which will help totally avoid traffic policeman-citizen interaction,” NSC Secretary said. In the framework of the reforms it is planned to introduce the system of biometric passports and identification cards from 2011. They will incorporate all necessary information about a person, a complete database which will exclude the practice of presenting reference papers to difference public agencies by the citizens, will bring an end to bureaucracy and minimize corruption risks in this sphere. Employee recruitment and re-specialization issue has not been left out of the scope of reforms. Like many countries of the world, citizens will receive qualification of a policeman upon graduation of the police educational institution. An on-line system to address citizen applications/grievances will be introduced, and a hot-line service will be activated, which will also bring a minimization of corruption risks and enhance legal protection of citizens.
At the meeting, the President of the Republic introduced the results of his Paris visit; Armenian-French relations will continue to further develop in different directions.
With a view to conscription organizational issues Artur Baghdasaryan said, “The inclusion of this issue in the agenda was conditioned by the NSC 2010 program. In 2009, the NSC looked at this issue of vital importance for our country, and the relevant agencies were instructed to enhance the efficiency of conscription process. A control observation made at the meeting revealed the progress achieved and once again identified the existing issues in order to eliminate gaps and weak points.
According to a decision taken at the meeting, a unified system of citizen registration and conscript assignment will be created in the country as it is necessary to establish a coordinated cooperation mechanism between public administration and local self-governance bodies, military commissariats and other state bodies responsible for conscription issues. Cases of draft evasion because of health problems are worrying, therefore respective instructions were given to relevant state bodies to take concrete measures this year to improve the situation. “It is important to mention that the number of contract soldiers in the RA armed forces is increasingly growing; this number increased by around two thousand. This is an important fact not only because the number of contract soldiers is increasing, but a social issue is being addressed as well, which is of prior significance in the context of Armenia’s defence strategic review. This tendency will further continue and expand under the framework of planned reforms in the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia,” Artur Baghdasaryan said.