An OSCE-supported two-day roundtable discussion on issues related to cooperation between Police of the Republic of Armenia, mass media and NGO-s started today on May 23 in Tsaghkadzor city, Armenia. The conference will focus on the current state of police reform processes and assessment of the Police-Community cooperation.
The two-day event which was jointly organised by the OSCE office in Yerevan and Police of the Republic of Armenia brought together officers from Information and Public Relations Department of the RA Police and more than 20 media and NGO representatives and leading experts.
The agenda for the discussion includes evaluation of the progress in the relationship between the Police and mass media. The participants will come up with ideas proposing reforms aimed to enhance and strengthen the bilateral cooperation.
After brief opening remarks by Head of the Police Information and Public Relations Department, Police Colonel Ashot Aharonyan, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin welcomed the participants of the event and emphasized the importance of Police-Community cooperation and such discussions. «In the current democratic institution the major evaluation criterion for Police activities is the public trust in the Police. Isolated Police acting without public support are unlikely to effectively combat crime, ensure people's security and maintain public order. To my mind, today's discussion will surely contribute to a more efficient dialogue between the Police and the community», - he said.
Head of the Headquarters of Police of the Republic of Armenia, Police Major General Vardan Eghiazaryan was among the speakers. He conveyed Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan's message to the meeting participants and mentioned that the Police-Community cooperation is highly appreciated. «Today's roundtable discussion will enable us to have a detailed look at police reforms strategy and fundamental aspects of their implementation, refer to our recent achievements and present our future action plan. This conference will help to raise public awareness of current police reforms, strengthen the cooperation between the mass media and NGO-s, reveal the major shortcomings which we couldn’t avoid and which are often invisible to us, and to outline the ways and methods of eliminating them, and of course above all to build and foster an atmosphere of trust", - Vardan Eghiazaryan said. The Head of the Police Headquarters touched upon the current state of police reforms and reiterated his thanks and gratitude to Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, the entire staff of the office and David Aienson, international expert for UK police, for their support and assistance.
The report on «The current stage and prospects of the RA police reforms» made by Head of the Reform and Government decree coordination Department of the RA Police Liana Amirkhanyan was followed by participant's remarks on the current stage of police reforms. At the end of the meeting the outcome of the discussion was summarized and conclusions were drawn.