US EMBASSY OFFICIAL – ARMENIAN POLICE USED
Ararat Davtyan

2010 /02/13 | 14:37

Society

U.S. Firm to Train Armenian Police in "Crowd Control"

John Mayer, who heads the Anti-Drug and Legal Affairs Cooperation
Division with the US Embassy in Armenia, today characterized the RoA
Police Department’s handling of the March 1, 2008 public unrest in
Armenia following the contested presidential elections as, "the tactics
and doctrine of the Soviet period and not suitable for such instances."

At the US Embassy today, John Mayer and Adam Leggatt, a member of
Densus who served with the British Army, presented the outlines of
a new program to train Armenian police in the correct and accepted
practices of crowd control.

United States to finance training of Armenian Police

With the financial assistance of the US, the Densus Group, which bills
itself as "first and foremost a decision-support organization, a firm
that equips its clients with the capabilities to succeed in addressing
their most pressing solutions by understanding what is happening around
them" , will be training Armenian police in crowd control techniques.

"The tactics that we teach are primarily based on the standards
employed in Great Britain and Western Europe, but they have been
modified to suit the peculiarities of the Armenian police force. What
is essential in all the training is respect for the right of people
to protest and to most effectively guarantee an absence of violence,"
said Mr. Mayer at today’s meeting with reporters.

Densus Group representative – Cops must sometimes use force

He went to say that if physical force must be used by law enforcement
it is important that it be targeted only against those committing acts
of violence. Mr. Mayer added that while it is sometimes difficult to
single out those in a crowd who are actually committing violence,
care must be taken not to use such measures as tear-gas which
indiscriminately injure peaceful protestors as well.

"During the training, we have created all possible scenarios ranging
from purely peaceful protest to mass public unrest," said Mr. Mayer

Adding that the strategies and tactics involved have been tailored to
the needs of Armenia, Mr. Mayer said that, "We have focused greatest
attention on the issue when the police are faced with crowds that
are non-compliant but not offering violent resistance."

Densus – Private consulting firm founded by former US and British
soldiers

A visit to the Densus Group website offers the following statement
regarding such crowd control management, "We can offer solutions
that will allow your officers to deal with these situations in a
proportionate, human rights compliant but yet effective fashion
maintaining order without using unnecessary force."

Densus Group was co-founded by a former US Marine Bart Kohler and
Sam Rosenfeld, who served for eleven years as an infantry officer
in the British Army’s Royal Irish Regiment. Their clients include
the US Department of Justice – International Criminal Training and
Assistance Program, US Marine Corps, Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe and the Washington State Patrol.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress