Material for a 6-hour lesson, part of the Basic Training Program of Macedonian Police, developed by the Police Development Unit of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje.
Many Central and Eastern European countries have experienced totalitarian governments where the national police forces were often used to intimidate and rule citizens. This gave many police forces a bad reputation and the police were seen as part of the problem, rather than as the protectors of individual freedoms of expression, religion, or association. Following the Cold War, many Central and Eastern European democracies are now facing the challenge of reestablishing the integrity of their police. Community policing can be used effectively towards this end. Only when the community and the police can truly work together for their common good, will citizens feel that they can trust the police. Community Policing should thus not be just a buzz word.
The goal of this lesson is to review and recycle community policing principles provided to students earlier in the training course. Students will also be provided the opportunity to apply an expanded version of the five-step
problem-solving model to real-life problems facing communities in Macedonia today.
At the conclusion of this lesson, the student will be able to: