How it happens in the regions.
The certification process has been rendered ineffective. Its distorted form, which makes it impossible to thoroughly vet personnel, has reached Vinnytsia. Dishonest police officers could pass the interview. Conversely, decent ones could be left behind. Not a single member of the certification committee can say with certainty that there are no werewolves among the people receiving the new uniform.
Why it didn't work to rid Vinnytsia of "cops"
The commission, on which the RIA/20minut.ua journalist served, heard the last officer last Friday. Those sent for polygraph tests will still return for interviews. Then, appeals and legal proceedings will begin, initiated by those seeking to reenter the system... But the majority of former regional police officers are already receiving their new uniforms.
The new uniform is supposed to signal to the public that this police officer can be trusted. But weren't the officers who shot and killed a handcuffed man in Kryvye Ozero, Mykolaiv Oblast, wearing the same uniform?
In Vinnytsia, probably 90 percent of former police officers passed the assessment with positive verdicts from the commissions. We can only guess at the interim results, which are not disclosed until the assessment is complete, based on data from one commission out of six. In our department, out of nearly 400 people, only 10 were dismissed.
Those who have truly successfully re-certified are few and far between. These are the people who shined when talking about their profession. Most police officers, however, barely managed to overcome this ordeal. And 20minut.ua wrote about the fact that people with mediocre knowledge and performance would remain in the police force even after the first week of work on the commission. This impression remained: certification will not transform the police force into a new one.
Could any of the recertified workers in Vinnytsia commit something similar to what the Mykolaiv employees did? Not a single commission member can say with certainty: only honest and dedicated workers, who wouldn't do anything stupid under stress, were allowed through.
“You can’t get inside a person’s head,” the commission said more than once.
The certification process wasn't perfect. It wasn't as planned from the start of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reform. What went wrong is illustrated in the infographic below, compiled from the journalist's own observations while serving on the certification committee.
In addition to the negative points, I'll add that there was a positive aspect to the interviews. They really shook up the police officers. They forced them to repeat orders and instructions, study the Law on Police, and, finally, to internalize the core idea of the "Serve and Protect" reform. Our commission literally lectured some of them on what they had come into the 2000s with.
The certification process in Vinnytsia was a shock to those with a conscience. For those without, it was like water off a duck's back. And it was impossible to recognize the candidates as "cops" in a 15-minute conversation, especially since the commissions had no information about them...
The conclusion to be drawn from the certification is that if the commission made a positive decision, this does not mean that the employee is now a good police officer.
It will take years for the system to change. At the very least, judicial reform must occur during this time. This has been a point repeatedly raised by commission members, as the courts are making decisions on the reinstatement of police officers dismissed during evaluations. This process has already begun in Vinnytsia, where officers who failed polygraph tests are being reinstated.
CERTIFICATION: WHAT WENT WRONG
The national average percentage of dismissals during performance appraisals is 15%. In Vinnytsia, the figure may be even lower. And this isn't because we have the best staff.
CERTIFICATION COMMISSIONS
Fourteen commissions were created to recertify employees in the Vinnytsia region. The journalist was included on the commission to certify third-category employees (from private to major). Managers and deputy managers were recertified without the presence of the press.
Each commission consisted of three police officers (12 from the National Police and six from the patrol police) and three activists (18 people from 12 organizations—dodo.di/rfMM). The chairperson is a National Police officer. Their vote is decisive.
POLICE LISTS
The lists of those invited for interviews were available on the regional police website, without division into committees. Who would be assigned to which committee was not known in advance.
The lists were sent from Kyiv. Invitations to testing and interviews were sent to police officers via text message.
TWO HOURS OF TESTING
The police created two tests—one for professional development and one for general knowledge. Each contained 60 questions.
A total of 120 points could be scored. But most people couldn't answer even half of the questions.
INFORMATION FOR COMMISSIONS
There was a package of documents with an attestation sheet, which was prepared by HR specialists and the candidate's immediate supervisors:
1. A work record with the results of official activities in accordance with functional responsibilities (it happens that a person is listed in one position, but performs other functions).
2. Characteristics (only a few had negative characteristics, for example, due to conflict or indifference to alcohol).
3. Results of physical fitness tests, proficiency in weapons, special equipment, and hand-to-hand combat techniques (most final grades were "satisfactory," with some being "unsatisfactory." Employees said these grades were false. No dismissals were issued for poor physical fitness).
4. List of penalties and rewards for all years of service in the authorities.
5. Test results (the average score was lower than that of patrol officers recruited from the street. There were no dismissals for poor test results).
6. Declaration (most employees had declarations with dashes in all columns except for salary).
The police website has a resource for reporting dishonest officers. This resource has never provided the commissions with information about the officers being evaluated. Activists relied on their own sources, while the police officers relied on information from their colleagues.
INTERVIEW - 15 MINUTES
The police officers were determined to support the conclusion of the manager who signed the report.
The commission could make four decisions:
— leave in position (mostly in the certification sheets it was written “suitable for the position held”);
— to promote (rarely encountered was “deserves a high position”);
— dismiss (very rarely the manager wrote “not suitable for the position held, subject to dismissal”);
— demote (there were no recommendations about this, but the commission made this decision more often than dismissal);
INTERMEDIATE STAGE - POLYGRAPH
For the commission to send an employee to a lie detector test, they had to give consent. After the polygraph test, there would be a follow-up interview.
APPEALS COMMISSION
Only an employee who scored at least 60 points on the test has the right to file an appeal.
COURT
This stage isn't included in the certification procedures, but it's very popular. Activists who participated in the certification of senior police officers say the courts are ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. The problem is that the regulations governing the certification are inconsistent with the Law "On Police." It appears the reformers have allowed dismissed officers to be reinstated as part of the certification process.
"Certification has completely lost its meaning."
Evgeniya Zakrevskaya, lawyer, participant in the certification in Kyiv:
"During the first stage of the assessment, problem areas, loopholes for avoiding or circumventing the assessment, and commission errors were discovered. All of this—the lack of information about candidates, the lack of time to review materials, the unevenly balanced commissions, the problems with the polygraph, and the varying motivations of commission members (he was simply following orders, we can't fire everyone)—significantly reduced the potential effectiveness of the assessment.
We brought all these issues to the attention of the recruiting center. They promised to fix them, and some of them even followed through. Members of the certification committees from Kyiv were sent to the regions to train and strengthen local committees. It was difficult for the "critical" part of the committees to resist the stances of "Who will work!" and "You're firing professionals," as well as outright threats and even attacks. This continued until May 2016. After that, the certification process was suspended, and when it resumed, it took a different direction.
The principle for forming commissions changed. Members of the public critical of the police were excluded from the commissions or remained in the minority. From now on, the commissions were formed by Avakov's advisers (read more: Dolce vita ARSEN AVAKOVA: ITALIAN BUSINESS AND OFFSHORE (documents) and the old police guard, in order to be able to influence the members of the commissions (mostly loyal ones) and block the decisions of the certification commissions.
The Vinnytsia certification is part of this second wave. Everything became clear to me when no one close to Dmitry Groysman made it onto the certification committees and Dmitry Rudenko was re-certified… But that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that even these half-baked results aren't being implemented. And they can't be implemented because they aren't publicly known. They're classified.
No personal lists of certification results exist in any region. Police refuse requests for such information. In other words, certification has become meaningless. Without publicly available information about each police officer's personal certification results, it's worthless if it's impossible to verify who has actually been re-certified and who has cheated in order to avoid it or seek reinstatement through the courts.
In fact, of the police officers involved in the Krivoye Ozero murder, one failed his certification, and the prime suspect escaped prosecution altogether. Had the certification process been conducted "seriously," the murder would not have occurred. So, with all its problems and shortcomings, the certification process here would have prevented the murder. But it didn't. Because no one is responsible for implementing the decisions made by the certification committees. No one is responsible for allowing uncertified officers to work.
Read more: Dolce vita ARSEN AVAKOVA: ITALIAN BUSINESS AND OFFSHORE (documents)
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Published on the website RIA/20minut.ua
Translation: Argument
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