DUSHANBE, November 28, 2012, Asia-Plus — A group of Tajik police officers and community leaders recently returned from an U.S. Embassy-sponsored community policing study tour to Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.
According to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, the delegation included eight Tajik participants from Bobojonghafurov, Jirgatol, Panj, and Farkhor where International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has established Community Policing Partnership Teams and Community Policing Centers, as well as two OSCE representatives who work on national police reform. The tour was part of the Embassy’s INL Community Policing project implemented by The Emergence Group.
The participants observed a wide variety of community policing efforts across several cities. In New Bedford, Massachusetts, they met with the chief of police and with a City Council representative working with police to prevent juvenile crime through vocational training. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, participants observed a police training session and learned about community safety programs that target youth and at-risk groups. In New Haven, Connecticut, participants met with Chief of Police Dean Esserman, who is known for his successful implementation of community policing in several cities. He emphasized, that police “… are not an army, we are not occupants, we are from our city and we swear to serve our community. We build relationships to breed friendship, not enmity. Community policing is harder policing, but it is better and more effective than traditional policing.”
Finally, the group got to observe New York City police at work during the annual Veterans” Day parade on 5th Avenue.
The U.S. Government is committed to supporting Tajikistan’s law enforcement agencies and justice sector institutions and will continue to collaborate with the Government of Tajikistan to ensure safety and security for all citizens. Since 2003, the U.S. Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement program has provided more than $52 million to support security and justice reform programs for the people of Tajikistan.
