Photo: Bogdan Genbach / Flickr. All rights reserved.The huge investment, both financial and human, poured into reforming Ukraine’s law enforcement bodies has been less of a reform than a PR campaign – a calling card for global consumption, designed to persuade donors (ICITAP, EUAM, the US and Canadian embassies) that real change is taking place. Uniforms were paid for by the US, police cars funded by Japan. Numerous training events were conducted by foreign experts, with training manuals and trips abroad for Ukrainian police management.
According to official Ministry figures, 92.3% of militia staff went through re-assessment and stayed in their jobs, but now as part of the new police body. As for the 7.7% who were fired, they were reinstated by the courts, and received €1,676,681 in compensation for their forced absence from work.
Where is Ukraine’s new police force and why has the reform been so ineffective?
