Police Crimes Rising: Minister Links Misconduct to Flawed Training System

The Minister of Internal Affairs has attempted to explain the rise in crimes committed by police officers, Orda.kz reports.

At a briefing of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Deputy Bakytzhan Bazarbek noted that district police officers in various regions are increasingly being implicated in criminal cases. For example:

• In Aqtobe, a district police officer demanded one million tenge
• In the North Kazakhstan region, a police officer was convicted of fraud
• In the Jetisu region, a security officer stole evidence worth 24 million tenge
• In Shymkent, a police officer was paid to provide patronage to a body massage parlor
• And in Qaraganda, a woman’s body was discovered inside a police station, while the district officer was found unconscious

What are the reasons for such situations, and what is the Ministry doing to prevent similar incidents? the deputy asked.

The Interior Minister linked the problem to the abolition of the police bachelor’s degree program in 2018: about six thousand officers were recruited each year, but most came from civilian universities and underwent only two months of retraining.

According to him, beginning in 2028, academies under the Ministry of Internal Affairs will graduate more than a thousand cadets annually, and by 2031, that number will rise to nearly 1,800.

In addition, officer conferences have been reinstated, mentoring with police veterans strengthened, and officers who violate their oath face harsh penalties and public trials.

We acknowledge that mistakes were made. We are now working to ensure they are not repeated. We severely punish officers who violate their oath and hold open trials. For example, in Aqtobe, we deliberately held a public hearing in the case of a district police officer. Police and crime are incompatible. Believe me, the entire command staff — not just the HR department — is working on this. We have restructured the Internal Security Department to prevent such incidents as much as possible, the minister emphasized.

Earlier, Majilis deputy Snezhanna Imasheva stated that despite recent legislative tightening in the protection of women and children, statistics show an increase in domestic violence.

Original Author: Artyom Volkov