Sweden has since 2012 funded a programme on Community Policing in Albania. The programme, with Swedish funding amounting to about 6 million euros in total, aims to build better relations between the police and citizens. Trust is being built, for instance by providing better conditions for citizens to receive the services they need from the police. On the 16th of July, the new premises of the police in Librazhd were inaugurated, which will improve both the delivery of services to the public and the working conditions for the staff.
The reconstruction, with a total cost of 80.000 euros, included the reception hall, the new command and control room, two interview rooms as well as the archive and toilets.
- The old premises were in a quite bad condition and did not allow the normal delivery of services to the public and did not provide for proper working conditions for the staff. We believe that improving the premises where citizens are received gives a positive message – that the police is there to serve them and protect against the breaches of laws, secure their safety and meet your needs in a respectful and service oriented way, says the Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission, Mrs Petra Burcher.
One of the new interview rooms is designed primarily for cases of domestic violence and juveniles and children. In her speech, Mrs Burcher emphasized that both victims of domestic violence and youngsters involved in cases, either as in conflict with the law or as victims and witnesses, due to their situation including age, needs to be interviewed in places that provide security, comfort and the required confidentiality when reporting their cases.
The Community Policing programme is supporting state police all over Albania, although there is a particular focus on the regions of Elbasan and Kukës. In addition to improving infrastructure, like in Librazhd, support is also provided for capacity building and training of local police. The programme and Albanian state police are also working to improve the level and quality of services in order to make them more streamlined, faster and efficient so that citizens are served in a professional way and according to their needs.
In parallel to the Community Policing Programme, Sweden is also providing support to this sector through a programme on juvenile justice, which is being implemented as a cooperation between Albanian and Swedish justice agencies.
