On the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the formation of the Police Troops, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the headquarters of the Police Troops.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan, Chief of Police Aram Hovhannisyan and other officials.

The Head of the Government first visited the Eternity Park, which was founded in memory of the martyred heroes of the Police Troops. The length of the park is 44 meters, which symbolizes the 44-day Artsakh war, and the width is 33 meters, which symbolizes the 1033rd military unit of the Police Troops.

The Prime Minister congratulated those present on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the formation of the Police Troops and noted. "It is very important to emphasize that we are celebrating the anniversary of the Police Troops in an extremely important period of police reforms, when the government itself underwent structural changes on that occasion, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was formed.

You are aware, of course, that in the context of these reforms, the Police Troops must also undergo certain structural reforms, being reformed and reorganized as the Police Guard. This is an extremely important change, and I want to get into the content of what this change will bring.

First of all, I consider it extremely important to emphasize that this will lead to the improvement of the social guarantees of the Police Troops officers. In other words, salary increase, more specifically, salary doubling. But this process, like in other different bodies, will not happen automatically and onc-time.

The first most important circumstance in this way is that the process of doubling salaries will take place through certification. Why are we doing this? We are doing this in order to once again make sure in that process that, in particular, the officers of the Police Guard, with their moral, physical, and intellectual training, meet the standards that we put forward as the Republic of Armenia. Those standards are important for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the state, because when we say a new standard, we mean a new standard for ensuring public safety. Each of you should be aware of this content, reaffirm your professional skills, so that you can deal with the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and foreign citizens at the highest level in daily service, and be ready to fulfill the tasks set before you morally and psychologically.

There's no doubt about that, it's just that during the structural changes, it's right for us to make sure once again that we keep that constant motivation to work on ourselves, because as I said, it's a matter of deciding whether this process will be repeated every five years or how often. Both re-affirming professional skills and increasing social guarantees should be a continuous process. In other words, the state should not raise salaries once, then forget about it for tens of years or longer, because it should be a continuous process, because inflation is also an economic factor, it will not be stopped anyway.

The second nuance, the change, which is very important. now police troops are stationed only in the capital city of Yerevan. We have also decided to change this system, and police troops units will also be stationed in the regions, because in many cases, when there is a need, when there is a service problem, police troops, units are moved from Yerevan to regions. Sometimes they have to spend days in buses, in all sorts of uncomfortable conditions. Many daily and service-related problems arise. We will also implement this change and a certain group of regions will be formed, for which a Police Guard unit will be provided, and this service will have a permanent location where the service will be carried out in more comfortable conditions. This implies that there should also be some new recruitment in the Police Guard, already with new standards and a new salary.

I want to specially emphasize that the process of involving women in the Police Guard should also be a priority for us, because women should also serve in the Police Guard to a greater extent, like we are currently doing this process in the Army, the Armed Forces, the Patrol Police, generally in the Police. Although we understand that this is not a very easy problem to solve. we should all encourage our women, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, so that they do not hesitate to apply for this service. Also, of course, a lot depends on you, and you should do everything so that the already existing psychological barriers are not accentuated, but on the contrary, create a certain atmosphere to encourage that process, that service, because it is very important in terms of increasing the quality of the legal system in our country.

Dear Police Officers,

This is, I suppose, our last meeting under that title, because next year already the Police Troops will be transformed into the Police Guard, but it is important to understand that this is not just a name change. This is also a change in content, and without denying the best traditions formed in the past.

We have to record that the Police Troops have solved many important problems in the Republic of Armenia during their 31 years of existence. There were problems, complications, but in general, I think, the Police Troops rendered a serious service to the Republic of Armenia. We know that from the first day, the Police Troops had the most direct participation in the issues of ensuring the security, external security of Armenia.

I want to bow my head to all the police officers who sacrificed their lives for the Motherland, who died, fell while performing their official duties, and I suggest that we honor their memory with a minute of silence."

After the tribute, the Prime Minister thanked those present for their service. "I thank you for being able to stand firmly in the position of ensuring and preserving the legal system, democracy, and the Constitution in the Republic of Armenia.

I wish you all success in your future service and I hope that as we transform the Police Troops into the Police Guard, and as a result of that transformation, looking back, we will be able to record that we have indeed implemented a reform that, both in form, content and quality, meets our best wishes”, Prime Minister Pashinyan concluded.