When the police and the community are a force and struggle for the same purpose, a particular level of security is reached, it was noted in the Forum of Community Safety Councils entitled “Active Partnerships for Community Safety” that was held at the Palace of the Republic in Chisinau on Monday. Minister of Internal Affairs Ana Revenco in the event said the central authorities aim to maximally engage the local authorities and the young people in the overcoming of community security problems, IPN reports.
In 2018-2020, the General Police Inspectorate, with the assistance of the development partners, piloted the community policing initiative in five regions of the country. There were constituted councils that involve police officers, mayors, persons with responsible posts, opinion leaders and active volunteers from the locality. At the end of 2022, the Communist Safety Council initiative embraced 644 localities in the Republic of Moldova. The mission of the Councils is to identify and appropriately solve citizens’ problems through activism and mobilization of the resources available in the locality. The practice was borrowed from Sweden.
“We will go through the country and will facilitate the good practices so as to ensure the citizens’ safety. We will also constitute a support fund for developing safety councils. A part of the resources could be provided by an external support fund, while the other part should be offered by the local councils. The goal is to prevent and combat accidents, trafficking in drugs, domestic violence” stated Ana Revenco.
Sweden’s Ambassador in Chisinau Katarina Fried said that her country has many security councils that work properly. “I’m very happy that the efforts of the local public authorities and other involved persons are recognized and can be applied nationwide. One needs to believe that increased local security can be ensured by collective involvement. We believe that these instruments will make the population more pro-active and involved. We also believe that this way the police and the local public authorities will be supported,” noted the diplomat.
General Police Inspectorate chief Viorel Cernăuțeanu assured that the security of citizens is essential and the expected results can be achieved by combining forces. “Our objective is to hold an assembly at the end of 2023 to examine the way in which the objectives set today will have been achieved. We have a lot of work to do, but we can do it only through a partnership,” stated Viorel Cernăuțeanu.
Mayor of Selemet village of Cimișlia district Tatiana Badan, president of the Conges of Local Public Authorities, shared the experience of Selemet in implementing the action plan of the Community Safety Councils. “According to the local public authorities, this initiative that was launched in 2022, when the program was implemented in Selemet too, is an instrument that ensures common security through the combination of the forces of the mayor’s office, the police and the community. The goal is to ensure the security of citizens. We try to cooperate with the whole society,” stated Tatiana Badan.
In the event, mayors, representatives of partners and of community safety councils from districts received diplomas for their contribution to the process from the National Police.
The Forum of Community Safety Councils was staged by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with support from the German foundation Hanns Seidel in the Republic of Moldova, which during over 20 years has contributed to the European and democratic course of the lawful authorities.
