Armenia’s police to launch cyber laboratory

Armenia’s four main police services are now fully operational, but police reforms remain an ongoing process, with the Interior Ministry continuing to monitor their effectiveness and further develop their capabilities, Acting Deputy Interior Minister Armen Mkrtchyan said.

He announced at a press conference that the Police will soon launch a cyber laboratory, given that many types of crime are rapidly moving online.

“From the perspective of organizational, legal, and structural reforms, the Police is developing along four pillar directions. On November 1 of last year, the final pillar—the Police Guard—was established and began operating at full capacity. When forming the Guard, we paid great attention to the training of the personnel joining the structure, because the Guard is primarily responsible for maintaining public order and ensuring public safety. This particularly concerns the handling of public assemblies. There are always sensitive issues involved, such as the use of enforcement measures or the proportionality of the use of force,” Mkrtchyan said.

Among the training processes, he highlighted the establishment of a unified standard for the use of force, which was approved simultaneously with the formation of the Guard. According to Mkrtchyan, this is an important methodological document establishing procedures that are followed not only by Guard personnel but also by officers of other Police services, making it possible to ensure uniform and precise conduct by the Police in all situations.

Police Guard officers also carry out daily patrols, as a result of which hundreds of cases of illegal activity have been detected, including crimes committed in public spaces, hooliganism, and drug-related offenses.

“The Patrol Service also continues to develop and demonstrate its effectiveness not only in the field of road safety but also in detecting crimes, especially since a significant share of crimes are detected by patrol officers. One of the most important functions of the Patrol Service is the prevention of traffic accidents. For 2.5 years now, the number of deaths resulting from traffic accidents has been declining, which is a major achievement. The Water Patrol Service, for its part, is also fully operational, ensuring the overall condition of the Lake Sevan ecosystem within the scope of its authority and making significant detections,” Mkrtchyan added.

The Criminal Police, for its part, focuses on detecting and combating serious, particularly serious, and organized crimes. Mkrtchyan said the Criminal Police should develop its capabilities in the digital sphere, given that many types of crime are rapidly moving online. This sphere should also be viewed as an area where the Police need to “patrol,” preventing and detecting crimes.

“The Police must also use digital and technological tools to detect crimes; therefore, we will have a cyber laboratory in the near future. This will be the hub and infrastructure that will provide significant opportunities for effectively combating cybercrime. International cooperation is also important in this regard. One of the important areas in the fight against organized crime is combating drug trafficking. The law enforcement system is particularly focused on detecting large shipments; therefore, we need to combine our efforts to uncover the chains involved in drug trafficking and production,” the Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs said.

He added that community policing, as an important pillar service, maintains constant contact with communities and is therefore aware of risky and problematic situations that could escalate into more dangerous acts and become crimes.

“Through the early prevention of such cases and proper guidance, we should be able to achieve comprehensive crime prevention through the work of community police,” the Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs said.