Armenia Launches Police Guard, New Use of Force Standard

On November 1, the fourth and final pillar of the police force, the Police Guard, was launched, which will be responsible for ensuring public order and security in the country.

This year, we have also carried out extensive work towards implementing the standard for the use of force in the police. This was announced in the National Assembly by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Arpine Sargsyan.

"The new standard came into effect on November 1, and I must note that an unprecedented number of more than 10,000 police officers have undergone retraining on the standard for the use of force. But, of course, it would be futile to imagine that with the application of force, we will completely eliminate all the shortcomings and issues that may arise in practice," noted Arpine Sargsyan.

She added that retraining activities for police officers will continue. "This standard must become part of the muscle memory of police officers, and there will be no need for various other interventions for officers to be able to organize their behavior in line with this standard," Sargsyan noted.