The Messenger

Tuesday, March 1, 2005, #038 (0812)

OSCE calls for long term police reforms

Specialists say Georgia has already come a long way and earned the support of
international donors
By Nino Kopaleishvili

Reforms in the police system will continue with the assistance of the OSCE
mission in Georgia in close cooperation with the Georgian Ministry of Internal
Affairs, officials reported on Monday.

At a roundtable held on February 28 at Sheraton Metechi Palace, representatives
of the Georgian government and groups of experts discussed how Georgia can
further develop its police system and form community policing.

“The OSCE mission in the middle of May will end writing specific
recommendations. Afterwards these recommendations will be sent to us and the
ministry will review them,” Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Bidzina Bregadze
told The Messenger on Monday.

“The OSCE will help us find financial resources for implementing these pilot
projects,” he said adding that at this stage the ministry is recruiting new
police officers to work in regions.

“They will pass a six-month course and will work in different regions of
Georgia,” Bregadze said.

With the mission to assess the country’s police system, groups of experts from
Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden arrived in
Georgia earlier this year. For one month the OSCE experts visited different
regions of Georgia, including Gori, Zugdidi, Samtskhe-Javakheti and now the OSCE
states it is focusing on long term goals for the system.

“Police Reform has begun obviously to a certain extent with the transformation
of the police,” said head of the OSCE representation in Georgia Ambassador Roy
Reeve. “What we were discussing today is that longer term efforts are needed to
transform the Georgian police service into something which matches European
models.”

According to Reeve certain positive steps have been made though “it has to be a
long-term structural change.” As Reeve sees it, the OSCE has significant
experience in the areas that it plans to assist the Georgian government.

On Monday experts presented recommendations to successfully implement current
reforms and stressed the need to form a community police, police that will
closely cooperate with society and mass media.

Community Policing Advisor Dr. Arie Bloed emphasized the fact that the citizens
of the country and the police have to work together. “One of the first things
that has to be done is to develop a concept, strategy, a plan,” he told The
Messenger, “And then we are proposing to start a new way of police that is very
successful in western countries.”

According to Bloed one of the recommendations is to start pilot projects in
Tbilisi and Samtskhe- Javakheti and later replicate the program all over the
country once it proves successful.

“I have a lot of appreciation for the reform measures that have been taken place
so far in the past year and if you look at the streets in Tbilisi two years ago
and now you feel a big difference,” said Bloed.

“On the other hand, the improvements are still fragile there is no mechanisms
that guarantee that this will stay the same. So, that’s why the OSCE is
recommending a number of measures to support the Georgian police, to further
improve and to make it sustainable,” he said.

According to Rector of the Police Academy of Georgia Levan Izoria intensive
cooperation with the OSCE and the Georgian ministry of internal affairs started
in January since the new minister came to power. Talking to The Messenger,
Izoria stressed the need for some financial assistance as well.

“Pilot programs demand material assistance, for implementing this there is
needed the applicable technical equipment,” he said. “The OSCE has serious
finances for this cooperation and this year about half a million dollars will be
spent from their side.”

The OSCE has helped to develop such programs in Kyrgyzstan that are estimated to
involve Euro 3 million. Reforms in Armenia and Azerbaijan are also under way.

But According to Police Affairs Officer of the OSCE Strategic Police Matters
Unit (SPMU) Viacheslav Vorobiev it is not yet determined what will be the
financial assistance provided to Georgia, though as he sees it raising funds
from international donors will be easier for Georgia than for other states.

“In Azerbaijan we have not received the essential sum to start this program but
we hope that we will raise these funds,” he said. “We are great enthusiasts with
regard to Georgia. The international community will have a huge interest to
support reforms in Georgia. That’s why I think that raising funds will be
connected with fewer problems here than in other countries,” he said adding, “In
my opinion this will be more than 2 million but how much exactly I cannot say it
yet.”

According to Vorobiev once the funds are raised the entire program may start in
the fall. “If the issue of donors will be determined soon, it is possible that
we will start the program in the fall,” he said.