Deputy Head of Administration of the National Police in Donetsk region: patrol force will start working in April 2016 in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk and in May in Mariupol

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Kyiv, December 24, 2015. Active preparation of new patrol force takes place in the east of Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, new police in Luhansk region will be created in Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and Rubizhne, and in Donetsk region in Mariupol, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The procedure of candidates’ selection is officially over and at present they are undergoing testing for logical thinking, stamina and knowledge of English language. The majority of the candidates, aged 21-35 are local residents from the towns where the new police is to start, as well as neighboring settlements and villages. “We believe these new faces will change the situation in the town and win the citizens’ trust,” said Deputy Head of Administration of the National Police in Donetsk region, Serhiy Matviychuk, at a press briefing in Ukraine Crisis Media Center as a part of UCMC pilot project “Spokesperson of peaceful life”.
About three thousand applicants submitted documents to the commission, out of which the commission will select 480 patrol policepersons. Statistics wise, there are 35 percent female applicants and only 3 percent of candidates are former militiamen who decided to join the police. According to Matviychuk, they will undergo the selection procedure on the usual terms. “At present, testing procedures are in progress till the end of December 28, following which we are planning to conduct medical examination, physical evaluation and psychological training, said the police deputy head. New police will start working in May 2016.

Selection procedures in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are already over. The commission selected 365 future policemen who will go to Kharkiv on December 28. They will receive 3-4 months training, studying legislation, decision making algorithms and operational training. Matviychuk emphasized that special aspects of the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions were taken into consideration – namely, huge number of inhabitants carrying weapons and proximity to the combat area. Moreover, he said that social networks profiles of the candidates were analyzed as well to understand their civic position. It means that the possibility of recruiting people with explicit anti-Ukrainian views is reduced to minimum. “We plan to start patrolling these towns in April 2016,” said Matviychuk.

As previously reported, patrol force has already started working in 8 towns of Ukraine: Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, Mykolaiv and Lviv.