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The Academy of the Ministry of the Interior
Solomenskaya 1
Kyyiv, 252035 Ukraine
Tel: (044) 245-9492
Fax: (044) 245-9481
URL: http://www.mia.gov.ua/
Contact information in the U.S.:
Lieutenant Andres Durbak
14th District Chicago Police Dept.
2150 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60634
Tel: (312) 77-6440
Mike Shep
Evanston Police Department
Tel. (708) 446-9465
To contact the UAPA, write to:
Nicholas Nehoda, President
Ukrainian American Police Assn.
7805 W. Farragut
Chicago, Il 60656
The NIS presents two paradoxes, one old, one recent, and partly related
to each other. First, the recent: with the arrival of freedom in
Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union has also come a great
deal of crime and organized violence. Next, the old: in the Soviet Union, alongside a super-abundance of weapons of mass destruction and military technology of a very high level, law-enforcement authorities at the local level lived in a very low-tech wo
rld, with shortages in virtually all areas, from squad cars to uniforms. Officers at the rank of captain or detective often had to walk, commandeer vehicles, or take public transportation in order to carry out investigations or other assignments.
In the old Soviet Union this may have sufficed . . . and perhaps even protected some innocent folk from more efficient forms of "police" work. But in the new independent states of 1994, local police forces in cities from the Baltic to the Black Sea are often overwhelmed by the simultaneous challenges posed by the spread of organized crime and the unstable political, legal and financial environment in which they now work.
To help address these challenges, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the Ukrainian American Police Association (UAPA) and the University of Illinois (Chicago) Office of International Criminal Justice are sponsoring a conference in Kyyiv (Kiev) from August 16 through 19. The conference will be conducted by Ukrainian and American law enforcement professionals. Topics for discussion will include:
Durbak and Shep visited Ukraine during the August 1991 coup at the invitation of the City of Lviv Militia and with support from the Evangelical Lutheran Synod missionary organization, Thoughts of Faith. In a more recent trip to Ukraine, a year later, Durbak and Shep delivered three computers and 12 bullet-proof vests and laid plans for a three-week visit in October 1992 by four Ukrainian law enforcement officials to the U.S. This visit was also supported by Thoughts of Faith, which has continued to be an important financial underpinning for much of UAPAs work.
The Ukrainian guests were hosted by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) on the East Coast. In Washington, DC, they attended the Contraband and Cargo Inspection Technology International Symposium, with the assistance of the National Institute of Justice. In the Chicago area, the Traffic Institute offered the two English-speakers scholarships to attend a two-week seminar at Northwestern on "Managing Small and Medium-Sized Police Departments." During this time the other two team members inspected several Chicago area police departments and educational institutions. The Evanston Police Department also hosted the group and took all four visitors on a successful raid for crack cocaine.
All of this activity has built toward the conference planned for August in Kyyiv. It will be held at:
A travel agency working with the conference organizers is offering a variety of packages for conference attendees. For more information, contact:
Scope Travel, Inc.
Maplewood, NJ.
Tel. (201) 378-8998 or
(800) 242-7267
For more information or to order a subscription, see our publications page.
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| Center for Civil Society International [email protected] | |