Police problems

The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kolokoltsev made several statements regarding the problems of the police and innovations in working with its employees. Polit.ru experts comment on the minister’s statement and offer their view of the situation.

In an interview with the Moscow Komsomolets newspaper, Vladimir Kolokoltsev noted that one of the problems that interferes with the effective work of police officers is that people do not go to cooperation with representatives of law enforcement, in particular, do not “knock” on their neighbors. He stated that, for example, in Western countries there is no negative attitude towards “Consults”.

The Izvestia newspaper reports that the Minister of Internal Affairs proposed to conduct a regular psychological check of police officers throughout the entire period of service, to check the police for drugs and alcohol, as well as for stress resistance and exposure to depression. However, the experts of Polit.ru doubt this idea, believing that it will not save the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from its main vices. They do not agree that citizens do not contact the police about suspicious personalities only because of their mentality.

Photo: Natasha Chetverikova

The leading researcher at the Institute of Law Problems at the European University in St. Petersburg Ella Paneya noted in an interview with the Polit.ru correspondent that drunkenness and stress are not the main problems that law enforcement officers face: “I am sure that Vladimir Kolokoltsev perfectly understands that excesses in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not taking place due They did not conduct a psychological training, and not because they drink a lot, but because they are placed in the official conditions of the “stick system” ... They constantly need to catch someone, punish, repress, write out a fine, reveal some crime (declare someone a criminal). And all that they periodically create, they do not in a state of affect and not drunk, but simply because this is the cheapest way to fulfill the requirements that the authorities make them. ”

Speaking about the Elubican Institute, the interlocutor of Polit.ru commented that this has the fault of the law enforcement officers themselves and their leadership: “What employees, such an adult, normal, sane people have a desire to contact them. ...“ testing ”this police who make noise or suspiciously himself, is simply scary. I just have a suspicion, and they will torture it. Take the responsibility of “tapping” the person, knowing that punishment can be illegal and inadequate. ”

Ella Paneye believes that we have a “unscrupulous bump”, when citizens are trying to deal with him with the help of him with people who are not like. In addition, she noted that in serious situations (for example, when they see the murder), Russian citizens quite decently contact the police. The Polit.ru expert focused on the fact that the matter is not even in the personal qualities of police officers, but in the system of social institutions, which developed in the bodies as a whole, as well as in the fact that the police are not controlled from the outside. She said that she conducted a study, during which she came to the conclusion that even the governor in his region "could not do anything to ensure that the regional police, say, were less tortured by the detainees."

Dmitry Makarov, a member of the Coordinating Council of the youth human rights movement, believes that the proposed checks can even lead to negative consequences: “I’m afraid that, with the existing level of corruption in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, such checks will turn into a way to get rid of those people who do not arrange the authorities.” According to Dmitry Makarov, to conduct real positive changes in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is necessary to attract the public and people from the outside, since the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the lower level can sabote even the simplest orders.

They say about the “Consumption” the expert noted that in order to apply to the law enforcement authorities, citizens should have confidence, “that their reports about crimes will be seriously considered.” The interlocutor “Polit.ru” believes that at the moment “the system of registration of crimes is working out of hand.”

The expert of the design laboratory of the Higher School of Economics, Ivan Ninenko, remarked that when citizens come to the police with their statements, they are often met not very affably: “Most police officers perceive these statements as“ hanging ”that they will not be disclosed.” Moreover, according to the expert Polit.ru, if the application is for some official, then the problems may end up with the applicant himself.

But in some ways, experts agree with the Minister of Internal Affairs. They also believe that the version of the “Georgian miracle” will not work with us. The current bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot be dispersed, since the scale of the staff of employees of the ministries of Russia and Georgia is incomparable. Dmitry Makarov added that this could lead to the fact that the dismissed employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will go to crime. However, Ivan Ninenko believes that one could try to conduct a number of such experiments in several individual regions, taking into account the old frames could recover in the service if a new selection system is underway.