National model of crime prevention: the experience of Uzbekistan

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In 2017, the Republic of Uzbekistan moved to a new stage of its democratic and legal development. Over the past period, a comprehensive legal system has been created to protect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, protect public order, ensure the safety of individuals, society and the state, and prevent crime.

The national crime prevention model of the Republic of Uzbekistan has its own characteristics, determined by cultural and historical roots. In particular, this model is more closely related to the historically established national institution of makhalla (neighborhood). The activities of makhallas are aimed at improving the effectiveness of the system of providing assistance to families, women and the elderly, as well as taking measures for early prevention of crime, which allows for a quick influence on the socio-spiritual environment and the implementation of the rule of law in society.

The development strategy “Uzbekistan-2030” assigns important tasks to makhallas to counter the spread of negative destructive ideas in society, strengthen close interaction between family, school and makhallas, as well as its transformation into a “connecting bridge” between society and government bodies in ensuring the well-being of the population and solving everyday issues in the regions.

At the same time, significant work has been carried out in the republic to improve the system of internal affairs bodies, develop and strengthen their lower level, designed, first of all, to ensure the protection of public order, the safety of citizens, the prevention of offenses and the fight against crime directly in makhallas.

The measures taken made it possible to increase the efficiency of the activities of internal affairs bodies, ensure a peaceful and quiet life for citizens, and prevent the growth of crime in the country. Systematic and effective measures have been taken to ensure peace and tranquility in the country, introduce fundamentally new mechanisms for protecting public order and creating a sense of personal security among the population, and the legal framework regulating this activity has been radically revised, based on the implementation of the noble idea – “Serve the interests of the people”

In addition, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-3182 “On priority measures to ensure accelerated socio-economic development of the regions” dated August 8, 2017, all makhallas based on the crime situation, are annually divided into “green” and “yellow”  and “red” categories.

The “green” category includes makhallas in whose territory not a single crime has been committed. In makhallas of the “yellow” category during the reporting period, the share of crimes per thousand population is equal to or less than this indicator for the district (city). Particular attention is paid to makhallas of the “red” category, on the territory of which the proportion of crimes committed, including by a separate category of persons, namely minors, women, the unemployed, those with previous convictions, persons intoxicated, those on preventive registration or under administrative supervision, per thousand population exceeds the district (city) indicator.

If for 9 months of 2022 the number of makhallas belonging to the “red” category was 33%, “yellow” - 25.6%, “green” - 41.3%, then already in 2023 for this period of time the number Makhallas belonging to the “red” category are already 23%, “yellow” – 40.5%, “green” – 36.5%.

At the same time, at this stage, a set of measures is being implemented to implement the principle of “Prosperous and safe makhalla”. An important role is given to the activities of the “five authorized bodies of makhalla”, which includes the chairman of the makhalla citizens’ meeting, (senior) prevention inspector of the stronghold of the internal affairs bodies (makhalla law and order point), assistant to the local governor on issues of entrepreneurship development, employment and poverty reduction, women -activists and youth leaders.

The activities of each representative of the “five authorized bodies of makhalla” are aimed at implementing social prevention, based on the focus of their activities. This type of prevention is aimed at reaching a category of people who, due to their difficult life situation, can be expected to commit crimes, and includes measures to eradicate poverty, assist vulnerable groups in finding employment, starting a family business and obtaining credit, training, retraining and advanced training in specialties in demand on the labor market, timely receipt of other social assistance. The implementation of social prevention is, first of all, aimed at analyzing the existing problems of the population in constant dialogue with it, which makes it possible to help people in difficult life situations, as well as to facilitate a return to normal life.

It should be noted that at the moment a decision has been made to transform this structure into the “seven authorized bodies of makhalla”, which will additionally include a tax inspector and a social worker, which will increase the effectiveness of early crime prevention.

The chairman of the makhalla assists low-income families in improving their living conditions. The local governor’s assistant is responsible for finding employment for the unemployed. The youth leader attracts youth to sports and engages in their leisure activities. A woman activist engages women in entrepreneurship and crafts. The prevention inspector monitors the crime situation. The tax inspector will help to legalize entrepreneurial activity, and for the self-employed to move into the category of small business. The social worker will provide social services to lonely elderly people, disabled people and other vulnerable groups of the population.

In addition, the national crime prevention model of the Republic of Uzbekistan is distinguished by targeted social assistance to citizens who find themselves in difficult life situations. A system of “women’s book”, “youth book” and “iron book” have been established to provide financial assistance to relevant categories of the population. It is planned to integrate these systems into a single information platform to increase the efficiency of assistance.

At the same time, more than 70 issues affecting the provision of financial assistance, subsidies and loans will be collectively resolved at the makhalla level. At the same time, the allocation of assistance from the employment, entrepreneurship and homeworking funds will be carried out by decision of the gathering of citizens of each makhalla.

To summarize, it can be noted that the national model of crime prevention is closely related to the social prevention carried out in the country, the provision of targeted social assistance, systemic dialogue with the population, the activities of the “seven authorized bodies of makhalla”, based on completely new mechanisms of interaction between internal affairs bodies, makhallas, and other government agencies, bodies and institutions of civil society, which, of course, has a positive overall impact on the state of the crime situation in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

 

Yugay Lyudmila,

Associate Professor of the Department

of Crime prevention activity of the Academy

of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan,

Doctor of Law sciences, lieutenant colonel

 

Mansur Kurbanov,

Deputy Head of the Department

of Crime prevention activity of the Academy

of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan,

lieutenant colonel