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Report of the regional roundtable on democratic policing police powers and oversight mechanisms

Description

This report, produced by the SPMU, contains summaries of all sessions and conclusions of the roundtable meetings that took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 13-14 November 2008.

Summary

The purpose of the roundtable was to “operationalize” the Guidebook on Democratic Policing (GDP), published by the SPMU in 2007. Selected topics for discussion in this regional roundtable were:

  1. the use of police powers during arrest, detention and custody,
  2. the use of force in public order management, and
  3. oversight mechanisms for controlling the police and tools for measuring police efficiency (See attached the roundtable agenda).

44 participants, from 8 countries (including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan) attended the roundtable. The participants represented Law Enforcement Agencies, Ministries of Justice and Interior, Prosecutors’ Offices, Civil Society Organisations and OSCE executive structures (including ODIHR).

The methodology applied was to present the practices in these fields by experienced police agencies and the practices in the participant’s own countries; and through discussions, to identify the challenges of adapting those practices to the advanced standards defined in the GDP. The ultimate medium-term goal was to influence relevant legislation in relation to the use of police powers, the operational procedures of the police and police training curricula.