On Wednesday, February 24, the minister for the Interior Mr Sandis Ģirģens met with representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the State Police, The Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments and local government police to discuss cooperation between the State Police and local government police, patrolling and responding to events, prevention of the threat of violence, as well as limiting the spread of Covid-19 infection.
The State Police and municipal police have welcomed the co-operation, with particular emphasis on the invaluable support provided by the municipal police to the State Police to limit the spread of the Covid-19 infection during the emergency.
During the meeting, Mr Girgens thanked the local governments for the support provided to the State Police and emphasized: “We have taken a big step towards the development of modern law enforcement institutions and the improvement of security infrastructure in Latvia. We are working on a large number of projects in the Ministry of Interior in order to be able to introduce the latest technologies in the work of institutions, thus facilitating the planning of human resources and organising more efficient work for the benefit of society.
It is very important to develop modern, unified platforms and interlinked systems that would be used for common purposes by both national and municipal sectors. Such an approach will help detect both criminal offences and reduce manual data processing and ensure the physical presence of officials where it is most needed. "
In order to continue successful cooperation, as well as to promote the unified use of modern technologies and systems for the needs of national and local authorities, there were discussed in the meeting a number of issues related to the implementation of unified, modern technological platforms and systems, thereby reducing manual processing of data, maintenance and costs of different non-interconnected systems, and promoting effective use of the State Police and municipal police resources. Municipal police were called upon to become more actively involved in the use of the Unified Register of Events, which would ensure the registration of events within the competence of the police in a unified system and significantly facilitate the flow of information with the State Police.
Topical issues of cooperation in the field of implementation of the unified 112 platform were also discussed at the meeting. It has already been reported that on February 18 the Cabinet of Ministers supported the informative report prepared by the Ministry of the Interior “Joint Contact Centre Platform to Support Operational Services and Supply of Public Services” which aims to change the organisational structure of 112 call centres and to substantially improve the quality of services provided by the emergency phone.
By joining the modernized 112 platform, the State Police and municipal police need to share responsibilities in detail, including setting response times, balancing competencies, as well as strengthening interoperability at the same time as changes in administrative-territorial reform, prioritizing the use of common systems and platforms.
Prepared by
Gunita Kogane
Public Relations Specialist
Communication Department
The Ministry of the Interior