Police Forces Divisions to be Deployed in Regions, Says Pashinyan

On the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the Police Forces' formation, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the main department of the Police Forces. He was accompanied by Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan, Police Chief Aram Hovhannisyan, and other officials.

The Prime Minister first visited the Eternal Park, established in memory of the fallen heroes of the Police Forces. The park is 44 meters long, symbolizing the 44-day war in Artsakh, and 33 meters wide, symbolizing the 1033 military unit of the RA Police Forces.

Pashinyan congratulated those present on the 31st anniversary of the Police Forces and noted, “It is very important to emphasize that we are marking the anniversary of the Police Forces during an extremely important period of police reforms, when the government has also undergone structural changes, forming a Ministry of Internal Affairs. You are aware that certain structural reforms must also happen within the Police Forces as they are redefined and reorganized into a Police Guard. This is an extremely important change, and I want to reflect on the content of what this change will bring.”

“First of all, I consider it extremely important to emphasize that this will lead to the improvement of social guarantees for the personnel of the Police Forces. That is, an increase in salaries, specifically, a doubling of salaries. However, this process, like in other various bodies, will not be automatic and one-time. The most important aspect along this path is that the process of salary doubling will take place through certification. Why are we doing this? We are doing this to once again ensure that specifically the personnel of the Police Guard meet the moral, physical, and intellectual readiness standards we set as the Republic of Armenia. These standards are crucial for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the state, because when we mention new standards, we refer to a new standard of public safety.”

“Each of you should be aware of this content, reaffirm your professional skills, so that in your daily service you can interact with citizens at the highest level, both with Armenian citizens and foreigners, and be ready to fulfill the tasks set before you morally and psychologically.”

Pashinyan stressed that the annual reaffirmation of professional skills and the enhancement of social guarantees should be an ongoing process. “The state should not raise salaries once and then forget about it for decades or longer; it should be a continuous process, because inflation is also an economic factor that will not stop,” he added.

“The second nuance, the change that is very important: Currently, the police forces are stationed only in the capital, Yerevan. We have decided to change this structure as well, and police forces divisions will also be deployed in the regions, because in many cases, when a need arises, police divisions are transferred from Yerevan to the regions. Sometimes they have to spend days in buses under various uncomfortable conditions. Numerous daily and service-related problems arise. We will implement this change and form a specific group in the regions, for which a division of the Police Guard will be planned, and that service will have a permanent location where it will be performed under more comfortable conditions.”

“This implies that there should also be certain new reinforcements in the Police Guard, already under the new standards and new salary schemes. I want to emphasize that involving women in the Police Guard should be a priority for us, because women should also serve more in the Police Guard, just as we are currently doing in the army, in the Armed Forces, in the Patrol Police, and generally in the Police.”

He acknowledged that this is not an easy issue to solve. “We all need to encourage our women, citizens of the Republic of Armenia, not to shy away from applying for this service. Also, of course, so much depends on you, and everything should be done to ensure that the existing psychological barriers are not further emphasized but rather that an atmosphere is created that encourages this process, this service, because it is very important for raising the quality of law and order in our state.”