Important changes in police work

The police will no longer fulfill the duty of maintaining public order. This will be the duty of the carabineers, while the police will have the task of preventing, establishing and identifying the authors of offenses. A bill on the work of the police and the status of police officer was approved by the Government, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of the Interior Alexei Roibu said the approval of this law represents an important step towards the implementation of the reform of the Ministry of the Interior and its subdivisions. According to him, after the given law takes effect, the structure and role of the police in society will change significantly. The bill suggests structurally dividing the police into state police and local police. The Police Department will be the authority that will coordinate the work of the police all over Moldova, instead of the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry will have the duty to work out and monitor the implementation of policies on crime combating and cooperation with international organizations. The head of the Police Department will be named by the Government, at the suggestion of the minister of the interior. Under the bill, the police officers will be employed only by contest, while the special titles given to them will be equal to the qualification degrees of public servants, not military ones. A special chapter refers to the state, legal and social protection of the policemen. Among the granted concessions are the provision of medical assistance and dwellings by the state. If the dwelling is rented, the state will cover the costs incurred by the police employee. Dwellings will be later built for police officers on the basis of public-private partnerships. All the available dwellings have been privatized and the state pays about 10 million lei a year for the apartments rented by police officers. The law is to take effect six months after adoption. Minister of Finance Veaceslav Nerguta said the law should come into force at the start of 2013 so that the financial resources needed for its implementation could be budgeted.