The newspaper "Volyn" reported on a high-profile and bold session of the regional council that took place in December of last year. It reviewed the report of the head of the UMVS of Ukraine in the Volyn region "On the state of combating crime and protecting public order in 2004," which, admittedly, was presented by his deputies. At the session, the deputies adopted a decision: to recognize the work of the regional UMVS as unsatisfactory, to express no confidence in Oleksandr Kmita, and to file a petition with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for his dismissal from the position.
However, there was no reaction from the MVS and its minister Mykola Bilokon. But very soon, the head of the trade union of certified employees, Volodymyr Buravskyi, and the "chief police veteran" of the region, Anton Lavreniuk, gathered trusted individuals from among the veterans and the work collective and began to defend the head of the UMVS O.V. Kmita, singing his praises. They spoke of some experience being implemented throughout Ukraine, of extraordinary achievements in operational and service activity. At the meeting, there was boasting that in terms of the main indicators of solving grave crimes, the administration ranks first in the state.
One cannot agree with this. After all, A.I. Lavreniuk is not all the veterans, and passing off wishful thinking as reality does not befit such a respectable law enforcement body as the regional department of internal affairs should be.
And now I want to turn to statistics. Robberies in the region increased in 2004 compared to 2003 by three percent, and these are the most serious crimes against a person: there were 690, now there are 712. The level of their detection by investigation, compared to the average statistical level for Ukraine, is 9.6 percent lower in Volyn. Robberies on the streets remained at the same level, and detection is two percent lower than the all-Ukrainian level. The number of murders last year increased by 18 percent, and the detection rate is also three percent lower. Among the unsolved crimes is still the audacious murder of the head of the Lutsk police, Serhii Shvachka, which occurred almost three years ago. The same situation applies to drug-related crimes and deliberate arson.
Thus, even non-specialists today understand that law enforcement agencies under the leadership of O.V. Kmita are working unsatisfactorily. Here is an eloquent example that characterizes the level of police work. Some scoundrel robbed the daughter of a well-known regional official in the center of Lutsk last year — tore a mobile phone from her neck, inflicting bodily injuries in the process. The child accidentally recognized the robber. Together with her father, they "figured out" where he studied; among several photographs from personal files, the victim unmistakably pointed to her offender. So, without the participation of the police, his surname, first name, and patronymic were established. There is a home address, and it is known where he studies. But only after the second visit of the robbed girl's father did the criminal investigation officers of the city department of internal affairs find the culprit, seize the mobile phone from him, and return it to its owner. And that was the end of the matter.
Last year, almost 2,600 crimes were committed in Lutsk — the most murders, robberies, hooliganism, and armed attacks. Meanwhile, the acting head of the Lutsk department, Ivan Yakovets, who arrived in Volyn two years ago with the rank of police captain, has already been promoted ahead of schedule to lieutenant colonel. He refers to himself as nothing other than "the master of the city." Until the second round of the Presidential elections in Ukraine, he was very zealously involved with absentee certificates, and after the victory of the orange revolution, he began to demonstrate his loyalty to the new government.
Separately, I will speak about the fight against bribery in the region. In 2004, only 38 cases of receiving a bribe were detected. Exactly the same number was in 2003. And these are, as a rule, secondary persons, so-called middlemen. On June 21, 2004, O.V. Kmita made an official statement that the Volyn State University had allegedly turned into a solid nest of bribe-takers. He even named the figure of 79 in indicating the number of bribery cases. Such a statement, for a regional-level leader, is too serious to make without backing it up with concrete facts. The academic council of the university, in its decision, expressed protest against the unfounded accusations and regarded them as "a fact of tendentious bias toward an authoritative higher education institution." After all, any person who thinks and analyzes even a little will notice that this is nothing other than O.V. Kmita's insinuations.
To expose bribe-takers in educational institutions and among officials requires great and painstaking work by all police structures, the department for combating organized crime, the department for combating economic crime, and other structures subordinate to O.V. Kmita. With raids and unprofessional actions, and especially with empty statements, nothing can be achieved.
In Ukraine, a false practice has taken root of "shuffling" law enforcement officers from place to place like cards in a deck. The Kuchma-era shuffling had a systemic character; "their own" people were planted everywhere. Oleksandr Kmita, enjoying the support of Anatolii Frantsuz, especially "unfolded" in Volyn. He replaced almost all deputy heads of the administration, heads of departments and sectoral services, district and city departments of internal affairs. These positions were taken by people from Rivne, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, where Frantsuz had previously worked. Personnel were transferred far from based on professional abilities, but on personal loyalty and family ties. Local police officers themselves could not receive timely deserved promotions in service or regular officer ranks. In total, more than eighty police officers arrived in Volyn who received the warmest positions, full salaries with bonuses, vouchers to the sea, and other benefits.
Such is the rotation, and in essence, it is a genuine personnel carousel from which the state received no dividends, only losses. Each newcomer, of course, needed a decent apartment, new deputies, expensive cars, garages, dachas... And the professional core of local law enforcement officers was essentially destroyed. Professionals over 45 were sent into retirement. Their places were taken by young workers with higher specialized education but practically little experience. Moreover, newcomers from other regions did not know the specifics of the region at all; they could not establish an effective fight against crime.
If we are already speaking about personnel changes, it is appropriate to mention the following: since 1996, five heads of the DAI have changed in the region! Is this justified, does it contribute to improving the situation on the roads? Of course not. That is why we have sad statistics: in the last two years alone, 1,471 road traffic accidents occurred, during which 336 people died and 1,600 were injured and became disabled.
The crime situation last year, judging by the reports of the chief police officer of the region, is reassuring. But if, on the instructions of the UMVS leadership, the police actively participated in falsifying the Presidential elections of Ukraine, then the public has grounds to doubt the reliability of the figures with which Oleksandr Kmita boasts. I think there is reason for the regional prosecutor's office to intervene for a thorough verification of these so-called "achievements."
During the elections, the police hardly attended to their direct duties, but collected absentee ballots and conducted other "operational" measures in favor of the pro-government candidate under clear general's leadership, contrary to the law. And the people of Volyn determined themselves correctly and won. The patron and mentor disappeared somewhere, and the chief organizer of illegal actions still commands. His Donetsk colleague, General Malyshev, did not wait to be driven out in disgrace, but wisely decided in advance and transferred to serve the oligarchs. O.V. Kmita needs to heed the decision of the regional council. The people of Volyn and the personnel are waiting for him, his deputies, and the entire visiting team to voluntarily report for resignation.
Vsevolod KUTIVSKYI