Patrol Service to start working in Yerevan from July

YEREVAN, June 17. /ARKA/. Patrol Police, a new police unit tasked with road policing, crowd control and street patrol, established as part of a major structural reform of the national police service, will start working in Armenia's capital in July, Deputy Justice Minister Kristine Grigoryan said during a government meeting on Thursday.

The patrol service will have broader powers. A single operational response center will operate and the possibility of duplication of functions and prompt response to various incidents and signals will be eliminated.

According to the deputy minister, the launch of the Patrol Police is expected to raise the population's trust in law-enforcement agencies.

In February, 2021. the Armenian government approved the release of 2 billion 161 million drams from the government reserve fund for the purchase of 140 vehicles for the Patrol Police and equipment for its operational control center. It promised also to release another 32 million 445 thousand drams for the reconstruction of the center.

Also, in February, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the government's plan to create a ministry of interior as part of a major structural reform of the national police service.

Armenia had an interior ministry until former President Robert Kocharyan abolished it and turned the police into a separate structure subordinate to the president of the country.

The police became accountable to the prime minister after Armenia shifted to a parliamentary system of government. -0-