Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia, speaking in front of a hearing of parliamentary committees, underlined several directions where his agency intends to implement major reforms in the near future.
Describing the criminal police reform project, Gakharia said that several important segments should be separated from each other. "First, this implies the strengthening of investigative components”, he said, adding that the detectives division should stand independently.
Second, he said that the institution of public safety officer should also be detached, meaning the institution of district inspectors should stand separately. Gakharia believed that this step will further strengthen the relations of police with citizens.
He said that the main content of this reform already exists and the ministry will begin discussion regarding the reform with its international partners from January.
"Today, our goal is to uphold the law and order in the county and to establish public safety guarantees," Agenda,ge cited him as saying.
He added that in order to pursue this goal, the policy of the Interior Ministry will be strict but fair and he hopes that society will stand with law enforcement bodies to this end.
"At present, in addition to the fundamental challenges that the Ministry of Internal Affairs faces, such as the fight against organised crime, guarantees of safety and border protection, the new challenges arise such as protection of human rights, prevention-oriented police justice, and introduction of modern technologies”, Gakharia said.
Another field to reform is patrol police, the minister said, stressing that this direction needs to become more digitalised.
Another sector Gakharia plans to reform is border police. He said that there are challenges in this sphere that need to be handled urgently and Georgia will cooperate with its international partners to train the country’s border police employees and make the borders more secure.
Finally, Gakharia announced the planned creation of an additional department within the ministry, the key function of which will be working in the direction of human rights protection.
