Ihor Klymenko, Head of the National Police of Ukraine

 

The decentralization is not just about increasing the powers of the local self-governments. It is also an exceptional opportunity to form a single security space at the local level. And here is an important moment of establishing cooperation between the police and the joint territorial communities. There are projects, the effectiveness of which depends on the interaction of these two parties. And today I will tell about three of them the most important.

Video surveillance systems – reliable monitoring of law and order

In the context of the single security space strategy, it is important to form an extensive video surveillance system. The police now have an access to nearly 31,000 CCTV cameras. The largest number of them is in the city of Kyiv – 6,750, and the smallest is in the Luhansk region – 327.

Why is this necessary?

Because thanks to the video surveillance systems, we have already managed to solve more than a third of crimes. And almost every offense is investigated using video from the surveillance cameras. The cameras with a video analytics system are especially valuable for the police. There are more than 3,300 of them in Ukraine. With their help you can quickly find a wanted car or person.

Therefore, with an extensive video surveillance network, the police will be able to more quickly detect crimes and work on prevention. Therefore, it is important that the local authorities take care of the safety of the residents by supporting the regional programs that provide for the installation of the video surveillance systems.

For each community – a policeman

One of the priority areas of the police and community security cooperation is the "Community Police Officer" Project implementation (abbreviated – CPO). This is a policeman whose slogan is "I'm here". He does not just serve in the territory under his jurisdiction. He lives in this joint territorial community, is a part of this community, he knows its residents and is guided by their needs.

Currently, 450 community police officers work in 19 regions of the country. They serve 279 territorial communities with a population of over 4 million citizens.

By the end of the year, we plan to complete training and send about 500 more police officers to the communities, covering up to 10 million residents of the joint territorial communities with a police presence.

Over the past two years, we have opened more than 530 police stations, in which are located the CPOs and district police officers. To understand the dynamics, three years ago there were only 4 police stations in Ukraine.

For children – a quality safe environment

The focus of the police is on the issues related to the child safety. Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,200,000 crimes committed against children and more than 1,400 criminal offenses committed by children have been registered. And for each of these figures there is a fate of a child. The story that led to these situations…

Of course, the police make every effort to protect children. And in the work of the National Police, we have introduced two communication platforms:

– the first of them is "Children! Police! Community!".

Why is it important?

Because in the practice of implementing the "Community Police Officer" Project we see that the community is ready to cooperate. And together we will be able to build an effective safe environment for our children at the local level.

– the second platform is "Safe School".

The police regularly hold meetings with the students and teaching staff in the educational institutions. They are told not only about their rights but also about their responsibilities. First of all we try to give children the understanding that in case of a problem they always have someone to turn to for help.

But I think we need to work harder to protect children. That's why I initiated the reformatting of the juvenile prevention unit, the so-called children's police officers. We are currently at the stage of selecting a new staff who will receive additional training from our international partners.

We learn to communicate with children in one language in order to recognize trouble before it manifests itself.

Because our goal is not to register and solve crimes with the participation of children, but understanding and solving problems that in the future may turn into serious criminal histories.

And I am convinced that if the police, the responsible state authorities, the local self-government, and the educational bodies unite their efforts, we will be able to overcome the problem of juvenile delinquency and ensure protection of the children's rights.

These three top areas are not all joint police and community projects that we hope to implement in the near future. Each of them is important, because they are the bricks from which we build a single security space in the state, where everyone will feel protected.