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Moscow, 13 March: The leader of the For Human Rights movement, Lev Ponomarev, agrees with the results of a Levada Centre poll that the reform of law-enforcement bodies did not generate a positive effect and the quality of the work of police has not improved over the last 12-18 months.

"We have been monitoring crimes committed by policemen. And I want to note that after the reform, the number and nature of crimes has remained at the same level as before," he told Interfax.

In Ponomarev's view, the poor results of the reform are linked the fact that "all corrupt chains of command of the (Interior) Ministry have remained intact".

"When the appraisals were under way, the amounts that had to be paid to a policeman to ensure successful passage were known. At the same time, those policemen who thought they were able to criticize their bosses because of the reform were mercilessly ousted," he said.

Interfax does not have comments from Interior Ministry officials with regard to Ponomarev's statements.

Earlier, sociologists from Levada Centre told Interfax that the majority of Russians (72 per cent) are sure that police reform did not have any positive effect and the quality of the work of police in the last 12 to 18 months has not changed. This is supported by data from a survey carried out in February in 45 Russian regions.

Eighteen per cent of respondents said that reform had served the police we well, while 10 per cent were unable to answer the question.

In assessing the quality of work of police personnel, 7 per cent of respondents noted changes for the better. At the same time, 15 per cent of Russians said that the work of police had taken a turn for the worse. (Passage omitted to end.)

Keywords: Russia, Corruption, Police - Russian News - Russia

 

Moscow, 13 March: The leader of the For Human Rights movement, Lev Ponomarev, agrees with the results of a Levada Centre poll that the reform of law-enforcement bodies did not generate a positive effect and the quality of the work of police has not improved over the last 12-18 months.

"We have been monitoring crimes committed by policemen. And I want to note that after the reform, the number and nature of crimes has remained at the same level as before," he told Interfax.

In Ponomarev's view, the poor results of the reform are linked the fact that "all corrupt chains of command of the (Interior) Ministry have remained intact".

"When the appraisals were under way, the amounts that had to be paid to a policeman to ensure successful passage were known. At the same time, those policemen who thought they were able to criticize their bosses because of the reform were mercilessly ousted," he said.

Interfax does not have comments from Interior Ministry officials with regard to Ponomarev's statements.

Earlier, sociologists from Levada Centre told Interfax that the majority of Russians (72 per cent) are sure that police reform did not have any positive effect and the quality of the work of police in the last 12 to 18 months has not changed. This is supported by data from a survey carried out in February in 45 Russian regions.

Eighteen per cent of respondents said that reform had served the police we well, while 10 per cent were unable to answer the question.

In assessing the quality of work of police personnel, 7 per cent of respondents noted changes for the better. At the same time, 15 per cent of Russians said that the work of police had taken a turn for the worse. (Passage omitted to end.)