Reforming law enforcement: overcoming arbitrary work practices In order to function and develop normally a country needs security, protection of indi vidual rights and rule of law. Russian law enforcement agencies, since the early nineties, have been consistently, and understandably, criticized for poor performance in meeting these objectives. While the state appears to make efforts to reform and improve its legal system, the law enforcement agencies continue to fall short of their mandate. The government’s efforts over recent years to improve police — the key components of the law enforcement system affecting the everyday lives of its citizens — have so far failed to bring about any substantial change in the policies and practices of this institution. Redistri bution of power and mandates within the Ministry of Interior, delegation of certain functions to other bodies, such as the Federal Service for Drug Control, and attempts to set up internal controls in the form of an Internal Investigations Department have produced little positive impact on individual rights protection. The goals, methods and practices of the Russian po lice have not changed, and currently the police force is unable to offer the Russian public any guarantees of personal security and protection of property. The Russian police in its current form is obsolete and unable to meet the development needs of the state and society. The fact that there has been no tangible success in the modernization of the Russian law enforcement system is largely due to the lack of a comprehensive view of existing problems.
CRISIS OF PUBLIC CONFIDENCE Maybe the most obvious indication of the police inability to meet the needs of the Rus sian public is seen in the extremely low public confidence. The findings of a large scale survey undertaken by the Demos Center and its partner NGOs in eight Russian cities1 reveal that 48% of the population hold a negative view of police performance, while another 12% admit that poor police performance is due to a number of objective reasons.2 This lack of confidence means, in fact, that police have lost their legitimacy according to the Russian public. We believe that the primary reason for this loss of legitimacy is due to the arbitrary work practices which have become an integral part of the policing in Russia. By arbitrary, we mean any form of unfounded and unlawful restriction of people’s rights and liberties, ranging from the right to protection of life, personal integrity, property, etc. to the right to be free of torture and ill treatment, the right to privacy, etc. Members of the public do not necessarily invoke specific rights, but they express their concern by saying that an individual complaining to the police often encounters inaction, 1 2
Hereinafter – the large scale survey.
The Levada Analytical Center that regularly undertake national surveys focused on specific issues have also found that the proportion of citizens who do not trust the police has not changed over the past 10 years and remains at 40%. The Public Opinion Foundation, VTSIOM and ROMIR centers independently report similar findings.