The draft police reform presented by President Dmitry Medvedev last week not only proposes to rename the police “politsia” (from “militsia”). It also proposes to harmonize financing and control over the police forces. According to the bill, which is available at a special website, the federal budget will have the exclusive financial responsibility for the forces.
Today, the police is partly managed by the governors and the regions take part of the financing. President Medvedev now calls on the population and experts to give their input to the reform draft, newspaper Vedomosti reports.
The reform also proposes to change the structure of the police and will prohibit police officers not only from engaging in commercial activities but also from possessing company stocks. It also prohibits police use of physical and mental terror in order to affect people’s testimonies. In addition, the use of police weapons will be more regulated. When introduced, the new law will entitle the police to use weapons only in cases when the lives of citizens are under threat.
The Russian police is believed to count about 140,000 officials, all of them formally part of the Ministry of Interior. However, an article in the Economist (March 20th) describes the Russian police force as a body fully controlled by the FSB, the Russian Federal Security Service.
Over the last years, there has been an increasing focus on police brutality, corruption and arbitrary treatment of citizens. The Russian police has become highly unpopular, and a reform of forces has been in the pipeline for the last years.
The reform will be based on President Medvedev’s decree on police regulations signed on 24 December 2009. That decree proposes to cut the number of policemen with 20 percent, raise salaries and reform police education and the selection of new officers.
