International seminar: “School police officers and their social mission”

Seminar: School police officers and their social mission, Ryazan, December 2007

International seminar “School police officers and their social mission” was conducted within the framework of the Climate of Trust program at the Ryazan branch of Moscow MVD University. The seminar aimed at creating mutual understanding between Russian law enforcement agencies and secondary schools in their work to prevent juvenile crime and asocial behavior.

The goals and objectives of the seminar were to:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the work of school police officers (SPOs) and their interaction with school staff
• Determine the place and role of SPOs in the structure of authority. Determine the legal status of SPOs. Determine the legal status of SPOs within law enforcement
• Identify the limits of competency of SPOs. Study international practices of cooperation between police and school administrations
• Identify the problems relating to the administrative and legal status of SPOs. Determine the functional responsibilities of SPOs
• Emphasize the significance of legal education among secondary school students as the most important direction for preventing juvenile crime and delinquency
• Evaluate the practice of introducing SPOs into law enforcement agencies. Determine the ways of improving the work of SPOs in future.

Over 120 people took part in the seminar, including SPOs of Ryazan Oblast, officers of the Department of Public Security Police and juvenile divisions, representatives of educational and youth relations authorities of Ryazan and Ryazan Oblast, members of local juvenile commissions, researchers of the Ryazan Regional Institute for the Development of Education, professors of the Ryazan branch of Moscow MVD University, school principals and administrators, and activists of local NGOs.

American participants of the seminar presented a training manual for School Resource Officers, which is being used in high schools in California. The Regional Center for Civil and Legal Education of Ryazan presented its experience of preventing juvenile crime.

The seminar was conducted with active support of the Ryazan branch of Moscow MVD University, Public Chamber of Ryazan, the Administration of Education, Science, and Youth Relations of Ryazan, police authorities of Ryazan, and the Ryazan Regional Tolerance Center. 

The seminar is the latest in the series of the Climate of Trust activities aimed at preventing youth extremism in Russia. Earlier events included the conference “The strategy for preventing crimes and anti-social behavior among youth”, which was conducted in September 2007, in Rostov-na-Donu and the seminar “The problems of youth and youth policy during the forming stage of civil society and rule of law in Russia”, which took place in Ryazan, in December 2007.

 

 

 

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