The head of the General Police Inspectorate Alexandru Pinzari said he would like the citizens to feel safe when they see a police officer and not to be afraid of this. In the talk show “Moldova live” on the public TV channel, the chief noted that this objective is to be achieved together with the implementation of the community police project, IPN reports.
According to Alexandru Pinzari, the concept of community police implies police officers focused on the interests and needs of the citizens and this means that the police should identify the problems of the people and solve them. A security council is to be formed in each community and this will consist of a representative of the police, opinion leaders and community leaders who will periodically come together to discuss community problems.
“To have community police, it is very important for the police officer, and the citizen too, to understand what this is. Today we lay great emphasis on the training of police officers,” stated Alexandru Pinzari, adding there are projects with prospects that will involve citizens who will explain what community police is and what the relations with the police should be based on.
As to corruption fighting in the police force, Alexandru Pinzari said a specialized subdivision was formed at the General Police Inspectorate to deal with the assessment of corruption risks, prevention and combating of these. The low salaries lead to a high corruption risk. That’s why they insist on increasing the pays of police officers.
Edward Cronin, senior law enforcement adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, said the proper remuneration of police officers is a priority issue. “The donors contribute millions of dollars and the police officers should be paid appropriately. This is the top problem that generates corruption. As long as the police officers are not paid appropriately, they will be unable to break this vicious circle as those who want things not to change will continue to corrupt,” stated the adviser, noting a new system for recruiting and employing police officers is needed.
