40 New Public Safety Officers Join the Ranks

Forty new public safety officers took their service oaths yesterday at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The swearing ceremony was attended by Deputy Interior Ministers of Georgia, Kakha Sabanadze, and Nino Javakhadze. The Deputy Ministers congratulated the law enforcement officers and wished them success.

The newly-appointed officers were selected for examination, testing, interviewing and physical training. They will undergo a special training course at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the next five months, after which they will be distributed in different areas of Tbilisi and will start their activities.

60 law enforcement officers were selected in the first stage, have already completed the full course of retraining, and will soon appear in Tbilisi streets.

The Public Safety Office is oriented on implementing measures to prevent crime.

The Office is a model of modern police activities, primarily community-oriented approaches. The scope of work of the Public Safety Office includes responses to juveniles, domestic violence, neighborhood disputes, illegal migration, and problems and challenges related to vulnerable groups. It is also responsible for planning and implementing crime prevention measures, collecting information, systematization and primary processing, administrative offenses, responses to the offense, etc.

The Public Safety Office has been introduced in the Reform and System Renewal Process of the Ministry of Internal Affairs since the goal of the Ministry is to switch from traditional police activities to community-oriented police approaches, and gradually replace a reaction mentality with a proactive mentality.

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs