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Local prevention council conference, Skopje, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Description

The conference was intended to try to bring on board those municipalities who did not have LPC groups and rekindle enthusiasm with the others.

Summary

Background / Needs Assessment:

The establishing of Local Prevention Councils (LPCs) has been an ongoing project since 2008. Since that date a total of 81 out of 85 municipalities within the Host Country have subscribed to the project and set up councils within their areas, with only the municipalities of Debar, Arachinovo, Kisela and the City of Skopje refusing to participate. Since the inception of this project there have been mixed results with some councils fully cooperating but in other areas interest was waning.

Project Goal and Objectives:
The overall goal of this project was to continue the institutionalization of Community Based Policing at a decentralized level by supporting the MoIA in the successive development of Local Prevention Councils.

  • To support MoIA in strengthening the capacities of Local Prevention Councils through emphasizing their role and importance for the security at decentralized level in front of the relevant local actors.
  • To strengthen the active participation of the Mayors in local security concerns and to increase their engagement in the Local Prevention Councils, as one of the most efficient Community Policing tools.

Project Activities: 
On the 9th of June 2010 the Mission hosted a conference entitled “Fostering Mayors’ Engagement in the Local Prevention Councils” at the Alexander Palace, Skopje. It was organised in cooperation with the Association of Units of Local Self Government and attended by 77 officials including 15 Mayors, 24 other municipal representatives, two MoIA officials, the Mayor of Zirovnica Municipality of Slovenia and assorted Mission members.

Presentations were delivered by Mission PDD Community Policing Advisers, MoIA representatives and the Mayor of Zirovnica. In his presentation the Community Policing Adviser pointed out the role of Mayors within the LPC as heads of the local administration with responsibilities to provide a safe environment for the community, while the MoIA representative highlighted the role and duties of police connected to prevention activities. The last two speakers described the Slovenian and Romanian models of mechanisms that deal with preventive issues.

The Conference included the following topics:

  • The role of the Mayor in addressing local security concerns and their involvement within the LPC.
  • The role of the LPC from the perspective of the Host Country Police
  • Best practices related to the functioning of the LPC in one EU country from the perspective of the Mayor.
  • Impressions, thoughts, concerns related to the LPCs from the perspective of a Host Country Mayor.
  • Experiences related to the functioning of the LPC in some European countries from the perspective of Police Advisors
  • Conclusions and recommendations

Results: 
The participants agreed the Conference was useful for their better understanding of the LPC concept and recommended that such events should be repeated in future, focusing on more practical issues. A more tangible result of the conference has seen resurgence in the use of the LPC councils.