30 June 2014, Tirana
A Roundtable Discussion was organized by IDM on June 30th 2014 with Police reform stakeholders in Albania. The event marks the conclusion of a 12-month research and assessment component of the project “Strengthening Integrity of State Police” on which basis two pillars – Technical Assistance and Information and Advocacy – will be additionally implemented by the end of 2014. The Project is funded in framework of the MATRA Program of the Dutch embassy in Tirana. It is designed to evaluate state of affairs and design more efficient integrity and anticorruption mechanisms in the State Police based on a methodology that examines forms, level and factors for corruption, efficiency of integrity system, educational and prevention mechanisms etc.
Speaking at the Roundtable IDM Director Sotiraq Hroni stated that integrity of the police service is key to successful policing and public trust in law enforcement. Ambassador De la Beij emphasized the need for effective integrity mechanisms in all public institutions, especially in police, due to its close link with the public. Current efforts of the Albanian Government in this context were presented by the Deputy Minister of Interior Mr. Mustafaraj and Albanian State Police authorities.
The event presented findings of the assessment and looked at alternatives for improvement. It concluded with the establishment of three working groups gathering experts and representatives from IDM, Albanian State Police, Ministry of Interior, Internal Control Service and other police reform stakeholders such as ICITAP etc. The Working Groups will work under the guidance of IDM experts and project team to design more efficient integrity mechanisms.
