And he also chases crooks…
Published 12 February, 2009, 14:16
Clean-shaven, mildly perfumed, prim, polite, delicate, non-smoker, teetotaler, a good fellow and a family guy… That’s the image of the model Russian policeman, according to Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev.
This too-good-to-be-true description comes from a brochure with the bulky name “Professional ethics code for officials of the internal affairs agencies of the Russian Federation.” It was presented by the minister himself to top police officers last week.
The document took three years of preparation and is said to be based on Russia’s legislation, similar codes issued by the UN and the Council of Europe, the best soviet and international knowledge and the Holy Gospels, reports news website gzt.ru, which managed to snatch one of just 1,000 booklets printed so far.
The code is a comprehensive instruction for every aspect of a police officer’s life: from looks and posture, to not taking bribes, and even to loving his or her spouse. It will tell how to decorate your study (with modesty and a sense of proportion), how to communicate with foreigners (avoid discussion of politics and keep in mind the language barrier), and how to respect one’s uniform (go shopping or gambling in a casino only in plainclothes, unless your duty says otherwise).
Attitude to undue benefit
“If offered undue benefit, the official should decline it, report to his commanding officer in written form about the facts and circumstances of the offer, and avoid any contacts directly or indirectly connected with the undue benefit.”
“If material resources bearing undue benefits cannot be declined or returned, the official must turn it into profit for the state by all means necessary.”
Quote from the new moral code for police officers
Policemen will have to take the instruction seriously. Their knowledge of the document will be tested by a special commission, and those breaching its norms will bear ‘moral responsibility in the eyes of the society, their colleagues and their own conscience’.
“We are no idealists. Nobody expects an instant effect. But we believe ongoing action will result in positive change in police officers’ moral principles,” said one of the code authors Bogdan Dereshko, from the human resource centre of the Interior Ministry.
Human rights activists branded the document senseless. Igor Kalyagin from a non-profit group fighting against abuses by police said the existing legislation was more than enough to improve the work of law enforcers, if they were duly implemented.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev, revealed in January most of the Russian officials jailed on corruption charges in 2008 were working for the police. They accounted for 31% of the convictions.
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