Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the event dedicated to the start of the work of the Police Patrol Service of Armavir region in the city of Armavir.
Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan and other officials were also present at the event.
The Prime Minister made a speech in which he stated:
“Dear attendees,
Dear members of the Government, Security Council,
Dear police officers,
Dear community leaders,
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Today is a very important and memorable day for all of us and for me personally, because today’s event is about how ideas, discussions become reality. Today, in fact, we are completing the work of establishing the patrol police in the Republic of Armenia. Starting from today, the last four regions that do not have a patrol service – Armavir, Ararat, Vayots Dzor and Syunik – will have patrol police, thus the whole republic will have it.
Five years have passed since we first had discussions on this topic, and the first question that arises is whether five years is too much, too little, or enough to implement such a reform. Of course, no one can ever give an exact answer to this question, but on the other hand, if we had worked only on this issue, on these reforms, or on our agenda was only the establishment of the Patrol Police, of course five years would be too long. But let’s not forget that during this period we also had to face many challenges: the covid epidemic, wars, all kinds of problems: political, international, etc.
It is very important that we did not lose sight of our path during this whole time. It is very important to record that this change, this reform, the foundation of this new institution, this new structure is first of all thanks to the people who believed that it was possible to do it. Because in 2018, when the task was set that we should have a new service, where absolutely everything should be new, the first question was: how will we implement it financially, in terms of its content and organization?”
Nikol Pashinyan thanked all those people who believed and worked uninterrupted towards this process. “I want to thank the Minister of the Interior, who was appointed to that position after serving as the Chief of Police, I want to thank the Deputy Minister of the Interior, the Chief of Police, because from the first day, as the process was being implemented, I mainly hear that the Police will resist, will not allow. I am very happy to record that in this noise, without unnecessary scenes, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, who dealt with this issue even when he was still the Deputy Minister of Justice and even the head of a department, did tireless work, and today this everything is reality,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
The Prime Minister also thanked the international partners, the European Union and the United States of America, who also believed in and supported this process. Nikol Pashinyan also emphasized the role of the incumbent and former Ministers of Justice: Rustam Badasyan, Karen Andreasyan, and Grigor Minasyan, in the Patrol Police reform process. “I want to thank Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, who coordinated the work of the Patrol Police, and I want to thank our parliamentary colleagues who implemented the necessary legislative reforms by adopting the relevant legislation. I think it is our teamwork that gives such an important and wonderful result.
And it should be noted that the Patrol Police itself has gone through many difficulties. I remember in August-September 2021, when it was the first days of the activity of the Patrol Police in Yerevan, it was essentially a chaotic situation, everyone was alarming that the patrols failed to regulate the traffic, there were traffic jams everywhere, etc. But it lasted only a few days, after which everything fell into place and people began to see, notice a new quality of service, a new level of relations with citizens. And today we can already say that even though the Patrol Police is not fully accomplished, this is an extremely important and justified reform. Of course, there have been difficulties, there will continue to be, but inevitably we must continue our path of reform and not forget about the main goal of Police reform.
That key goal is to give a greater sense of protection to the citizen in the Republic of Armenia and to create a reality of protection for the citizen. I want to note with satisfaction that, according to international institutions, Armenia ranks 9th in the world in terms of the legal system and criminal situation, that is, 9th among the best, and you can imagine what an important indicator this is. Of course, not only the Police and Patrol Police have a role here, the general attitude, lifestyle, value system of our people is also very important, which also has a very significant impact. But I think that the Police reforms and, in general, the reforms of the judicial system that we are implementing, have a very direct and significant impact on this process. And I am happy that here, working, overcoming many trials, we came, we reached this day, when the Patrol Police is a reality in the entire Republic of Armenia, and in the near future, only one more component will be added: in December, the water and coastal service will also be launched on Lake Sevan, which is within the framework of the already established and existing Gegharkunik regional service, and with that we will complete this stage,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
Referring to the next steps, the Prime Minister added: “Our upcoming task, strategic goal is to increase the participation of women in the Patrol Service to at least 30 percent. I want to specially emphasize and congratulate all the women who serve in the Patrol Police. I would like to welcome all of you and thank you for that you also believed. If you did not believe that what the Government says will become a reality, and the Republic of Armenia, the legal system of the Republic of Armenia needs your support, this day would not be like this.
Dear colleagues, I congratulate all of us on the occasion of the final stage of the establishment of the Patrol Police and wish all our new officers success, good service for the benefit of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Armenia.
Glory to the martyrs and long live the Republic of Armenia,” concluded the Prime Minister.
INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
