Police Reform

National Forum of the “Neighborhood Watch” and Voluntary Police

There was another Republican Forum "Voluntary Police and Neighborhood Watch" in the morning of 18 October 2013, in the "Kohi Vahdat" premises in Dushanbe, which was attended by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, Lieutenant-General Ramazon Rahimov, the Head of the Political and Military Department of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, Mr. Alastair Livingston, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mahmadsharif Boboshoev, Chairperson of the Committee on Youth Affairs and Tourism Maliksho Nematov and other officials.

Mr. Alastair Livingston, during his speech, reiterated the approval of the Police Reform Strategy for the period 2013-2020 by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan in March 2013, and the decree of the President of Tajikistan to establish a Working Group to develop a Program and Work plan for the implementation of the Strategy. He noted that the Police Reform process is a long-term and expensive project, emphasizing that this would require the support of not only the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also society at large.

"Under the management of Ramazon Rahimov, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is moving forward in this process, with an implementation plan of police reform, which will be implemented in the nearest future. We, the OSCE, are proud to be able to provide assistance and support, when requested, through our own National Police Reform Team that is in contact daily with their MIA counterparts, and who provide the link between the Ministry, the OSCE and the International Community. Tajikistan is the only country in Central Asia that has such a vibrant, forward-looking and nationally supported Police Reform. This is noted by all the foreign countries that are represented in Tajikistan – a fact of which you should be proud," said Mr. Livingston.

"As for your role – that of the Voluntary Police and “Neighborhood Watch” and how it will link in to all other aspects of this process, it should be noted that traditionally the work of the law enforcement agencies in Central Asia has emphasized that a police officer is a "Servant of the state." Modern police doctrine stresses a different philosophy - that a police officer is a "Servant of the people." That is what, in a long-term, the police reform is all about. Namely, ensuring that the population is provided operational, transparent and effective solution of issues related to the safety of the population," said Alastair Livingston.

Also, Mr. Alastair Livingston shared information with the audience about where and how the concept of "Voluntary Police and Neighbourhood Watch" has appeared from. "This concept, originating in both the United States and European countries over 300 years ago, has been widely developed in those countries in the last 30 years.

A “Watch” is an organized group of local citizens, functioning to prevent crime and vandalism in their neighbourhood, where all duties are performed in a purely voluntary manner. A similar organization in the US is called “Town Watch”, which is also a voluntary organization of local residents, but in this case is equipped, uniformed and trained by the police service. They perform similar duties to the Voluntary Police and Neighbourhood Watch, becoming additional "eyes and ears" to the regular police in a local neighbourhood, further ensuring even better relationship between Civil Society and the police, as well as more effective “user-friendly” security to all neighbourhoods," outlined Mr. Livingston.

At the end of his speech, Mr. Alastair Livingston stated that over the coming years, all those present in the room will see gradual changes in the philosophy of providing security to the public, and expressed a hope that they will be proud to be a part of this process.

It is necessary to add that in the framework of the Police Reform program for the period 2013-2020, and in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Police Reform, which was signed between the OSCE and the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan has partially funded this meeting.