DUSHANBE, November 10, 2011, Asia-Plus — Following a year of joint capacity-building and collaborative problem-solving, the Community Policing Partnership Teams (CPPTs) established by the U.S. Government in Qairoqqum, Gharm, and Qumsangir, opened nine Community Policing Centers (CPCs), the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe reports.
Three CPCs for each district are located in the main district police stations and territorial police inspectors’ offices. The CPCs provide space for police and community members to jointly solve community problems related to preventing crime, improving safety, and enhancing quality of life. Representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the local government, and the community attended ribbon cutting ceremonies in all three districts. As part of the openings, the CPPTs organized sports activities for youth, including volleyball, basketball, and soccer.
Head of the Public Order Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Mumin Zinatov confirmed, “Policing will only be effective through police-public partnerships. The centers will enable the police to work more closely with the community.” In the Rasht district, the Hoit village leader reminded attendees, “The law is the same for everyone, police and citizens. Now we have a place to promote respect for rule of law.”
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), through its community policing project, implemented by The Emergence Group and in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, provided $20,000 worth of assistance for each district to establish the CPCs. This assistance included materials for light renovation, office furniture, and IT equipment. The CPPTs, composed of police, local government representatives, and community members, developed project proposals and provided the labor. The CPPTs will also host workshops in the CPCs for police and community members on partnership-building, communication skills, problem-solving, and preventing family violence. The Qumsangir CPPT used some of the funds to establish a sewing center with four machines in the Panj CPC.
Eric Hamrin, INL Foreign Affairs Officer, Washington, D.C., attended the openings and remarked, “Community policing in these districts will be a positive example for other villages, districts, and regions in Tajikistan, and even countries, to learn from.”
Since 1992, the U.S. Government has provided more than $984 million in assistance programs that support the law enforcement and security systems, economic growth, democratic institutions, health care and education of Tajikistan.
