Czech city to add Ukrainian crime prevention assistants to its Romani crime prevention assistants and expand police cooperation with local communities
Jihlava, Czech Republic would like to hire two crime prevention assistants in addition to its Romani crime prevention assistants. The city is assuming the assistants would aid local police with getting closer to the local Ukrainian community, which is large in this capital of the Vysočina Region, so that its members will trust local patrol officers more.
Mayor Petr Ryška (Civic Democratic Party – ODS) informed journalists of the decision after the city council meeting on Thursday, 28 November. “We have four places for Romani assistants and we want two more here for Ukrainians,” the mayor said.
The city will request a subsidy for the new assistants. Ryška presumes they could start work sometime in the spring if the city manages to find appropriate candidates.
The mayor said that as far as he is aware there are already Ukrainian crime prevention assistants working in some other cities as well. According to City Hall, about 7,000 people from Ukraine live in Jihlava, which has a population of 50,000.
“The [Ukrainian] community here is large, after all, there are some problems with that, and we think we should get a little bit closer to them,” the mayor said. He considers it essential to know how long any of those who will eventually be interested in the job have lived in the city.
“For me it’s important to find the best person possible to aid us,” the mayor said. The Ukrainian crime prevention assistants would work in localities where such foreign nationals move around the most, such as in the lower part of the main square, the Březinky housing estate, and local parks in the summertime.
Crime prevention assistants work in collaboration with police and aid them with maintaining public order. They are empowered to admonish people and draw their attention to the consequences of Czech decrees and laws.
