The OSCE Mission to Skopje presented Thursday the final results of the Mayors Perception Survey on the work of the police, conducted in cooperation with the Association of municipalities (ZELS) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MoIA).

The survey, conducted in June-July 2011, complements the Mission’s bi-annual community policing survey, and aims to gauge the opinion of the country’s Mayors about the work of the police in their respective municipalities, as well as about the effectiveness of municipal-police cooperation.

“Cooperation between the local police and the municipalities is essential for the effective functioning of community policing mechanisms and for increasing the overall security and well-being of the country’s citizens. This survey has helped to evaluate the effectiveness of the community policing mechanisms which, in order to identify possible gaps and recommendations for future activities,” said the Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Ralf Breth,

Interior Minister Gordana Jankullovska added: “The results of the survey show that the MoIA is on the right path in implementing the community policing concept in the country, but, at the same time we are also required to intensify joint efforts in prevention activities.”

The results of the survey indicate vast support for community policing mechanisms by the Mayors, the OSCE says in a press release.

“This OSCE-supported survey shows that the majority of Mayors support the work of the Local Prevention Councils. This is confirmed by the fact that these Councils have been established in almost all municipalities countrywide. Their work is particularly important for the cooperation of the local authorities with the police and helps make citizen-public partnerships even stronger,” said ZELS president Koce Trajanovski.