US government aids Tajik crime fight with new electronic registration system

The United States also helped open five new community policing centres around the country that aim to strengthen 'the police-public partnership through trust-building and dialogue'.

By Caravanserai

2021-06-29

The US embassy and Tajik Interior Ministry opened five Community Policing Centres in Qubodiyon, Jaihun, Farkhor, Istaravshan and Isfara districts on June 21. [US embassy in Tajikistan]

DUSHANBE -- The US embassy in Dushanbe gave the Tajik Interior Ministry (MVD) an Electronic Crime (E-Crime) Registration System as part of ongoing efforts by the United States to help the Tajik government fight crime, the embassy said in a statement Friday (June 25).

The system is meant to help the MVD ensure access to justice and protect citizens' rights and interests, as well as letting police officers manage criminal records and enabling participants in criminal proceedings to obtain legal records.

Acting on a request from the MVD, the US embassy's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office (INL) and Saferworld, the implementer of the embassy's Community Policing programme (CPP), developed the e-crime registration system.

The cost of the project, $662,000 (7.6 million TJS), includes software development, a server, equipment, communication infrastructure, and training for more than 275 MVD officers to operate the system.

Community Policing Centres

In other recent aid to Tajik law enforcement, the US embassy and the MVD opened five Community Policing Centres (CPCs) in Qubodiyon, Jaihun, Farkhor, Istaravshan and Isfara districts on June 21, the embassy said in a statement June 22.

The embassy's CPP funded the centres, which Saferworld built.

The CPCs provide offices for Community Policing Partnership Teams (CPPTs). The CPPTs include police officers and community representatives. They work together on solving local security problems.

The CPPTs, under the auspices of the CPP, learned about "principles and practices of community policing", which include prioritising community security needs, jointly addressing community issues, and strengthening "the police-public partnership through trust-building and dialogue".

Since 2016, Saferworld has trained more than 3,000 police officers and citizens and has developed 37 CPPTs.

The CPP began in 2010. The US embassy has built or rebuilt 54 CPCs nationwide, including along the Afghan border.