We Need a New Police Force: Nikol Pashinyan

During a meeting held today with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the agenda and vision for police reforms in the Republic of Armenia were discussed. Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted on the topic: "Overall, police reforms have been on our agenda since the first day of our government formation, and I believe this is one of our most important current issues. It should be noted that since the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution in Armenia in 2018, the police have generally performed the tasks set before them and continue to do so, but we all acknowledge that in light of new political and public realities, we need a new police force in the substantive sense of the word. Our key objective in this process should be to establish new relations between the police and citizens."

“During this time, we have had various discussions and considered different models, but generally, I believe our conclusion is that in both police matters and others, we should refrain from piecemeal actions, and all our steps should be strategic in nature. I have previously stated once or twice that I believe we can record based on 2019 results that we have entered the strategic management phase after what can be termed the post-revolutionary transitional governance phase. I think we should no longer make any piecemeal changes in any sector, and all our actions should be strategic.”

“What do I mean by strategic changes? In any sector when we make a change, we must consider that change, even the smallest, has a certain field of interactions. When discussing changes, we must look not only at that point but at the field of possible interactions, assess the changes occurring in that space of interactions, and only then make the corresponding decisions. In this regard, I believe and hope that police reforms will be one of our most successful examples. Of course, we hope and are not only hopeful but also confident that as a result of these reforms, the police will receive a new visual, external image, but much more importantly, twice as crucial is the new content that we must have in the police as a result of these reforms. This should lead to changes in the institutional framework of law enforcement agencies, the relations with the public, and generally the atmosphere in the country regarding the maintenance of public order, legal order, and, of course, crime prevention and fighting against criminality.”

During the meeting, discussions focused on the main directions of reform in the police, the progress of strategy development, and related implementation issues. The discussion extended particularly to structural changes in the police, the new content of personnel policy, technical re-equipment, the introduction of new educational programs, the necessary preparation of qualifications, knowledge, and skill reserves, as well as actions in several other areas. There was also a mention of international cooperation within that framework.

The Prime Minister instructed responsible officials to finalize the development of the reform strategy in a short time and present it for discussion.