On November 15, a meeting dedicated to implementation of tasks on increasing the effectiveness of offense prevention and combating crime, solving problems in this direction was held under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The meeting was attended by members of parliament and government, responsible employees of law enforcement and supervisory bodies, as well as representatives of civil society institutions. Heads of local authorities and other responsible departments participated in it through a videoconference. 

It should be noted that under the leadership and at the initiative of the President of our country, significant work aimed at ensuring a peaceful and prosperous life of citizens, preventing offenses at an early stage and combating crime has been implemented over the past period. 

Specific tasks on coordinating activities for combating and preventing crime, improving and strengthening the effectiveness of organizational and legal mechanisms of countering religious extremism, terrorism, other forms of organized crime, corruption, as well as on improving the legal culture of the population, organization of effective interaction in this area of state structures with civil society institutions, the mass media are identified in the Strategy of actions on five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021. 

Laws “On combating corruption”, “On protecting children from information damaging their health”, the resolution of the President “On measures of further improving the system of crime prevention and combating crime”, which clearly identified the primary tasks facing the state bodies and the general public in this direction, are adopted. 

At the initiative of the Head of our state, every Thursday of the week is determined as the Day of Prevention of Offenses, in order to increase the effectiveness of work in this direction by joining efforts of the state bodies, intellectuals, makhalla activists and public structures, which gives positive results. 

In particular, the total crime rate decreased by 14 percent for the 10 months of this year, compared to the same period last year, including robbery by 16 percent, brigandage by 19 percent, murders by 21 percent, extortion by 22 percent, hooliganism by 34 percent. 

The number of women who committed crimes also decreased by 16 percent, youth – by 14 percent, minors – by 17 percent. 

The territories of regions, districts and cities are divided into sectors in accordance with the resolution of the President of our country of August 8 this year. Representatives of government bodies, law enforcement and government agencies, as well as the public are carrying out targeted work in sectors on elimination of existing problems, improving the living standards and welfare of the population. 

Due to close cooperation and dialogue with the population and public, no crimes were committed in 1243 makhallas. 

The spiritual and moral situation in 22 370 dysfunctional families was improved as a result of studying problems of the population through household detour, disbanding 11 345 young families was prevented, 4 494 crimes were revealed on the basis of operative reports of public formations “Makhalla posboni”. 

Information and communication technologies are widely introduced in activities on prevention and combating crime. In particular, conceptual projects in Tashkent – “Safe city”, in Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shakhrisabz – “Safe tourism”, in Parkent district – “Safe recreation” are being implemented. 

Many grave and especially grave crimes have been solved due to installation of more than 177 thousand security cameras in trade outlets, cultural facilities and other public places, educational institutions of the country. 

It is known that transformation of each makhalla into a territory free from crime, avoidance of indifference is among the important conditions of ensuring a peaceful and tranquil life of society. In this regard, it is extremely important for every citizen to realize the importance of the idea “No crimes should be committed in my makhalla”. 

160 makhallas of Namangan region, due to effective use of positive experience of “Orzu” makhalla in the city of Namangan, as well as 198 makhallas of Khorezm region have been turned into crime-free areas through the organization of public control units. 

Offenses are not committed without cause, and the main task at the same time is not to fight against their consequences, but to prevent them early in a timely manner, identify and eliminate the causes and conditions that contribute to their commission. 

Taking this into account, the main attention is paid to creating new workplaces in the regions, creating additional opportunities for entrepreneurship. 

11 free economic and 5 industrial zones were created for these purposes. The number of small industrial zones is brought to 90. This year, 7 500 new production facilities were commissioned, more than 650 thousand workplaces were created. 

All this allows us to ensure constant employment of the population, to consistently raise the incomes of families, their level and quality of life due to the accelerated development of the regions, improvement of infrastructure, production of high-tech and competitive products in the world market. 

Along with the implemented positive activity, the Head of our state sharply criticized the fact that significant reduction of crime is not ensured in some regions and an increase in certain types of crimes is observed. 

In particular, responsible heads of the city of Tashkent, Jizzakh, Samarkand, Fergana and Tashkent regions were indicated for their shortcomings, specific instructions were given on their elimination. 

It was noted that some leaders still have not changed their attitude towards work on spirituality and enlightenment. 

On the basis of specific figures and examples, it was noted that ineffectiveness of preventive measures and inadequate cooperation of law enforcement agencies with public facilitated the commission of serious crimes in a number of makhallas. 

The Head of our state instructed to develop a “road map”, which includes measures on prevention of crimes in the context of districts, taking into account the characteristics of each region. 

Analysis of crimes related to family relations showed that in 10 months of this year, 165 of the total number of murders were committed as a result of domestic quarrels between husband and wife, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and 66 – as a result of conflicts between neighbors. 

At the meeting, activities of guards functioning in makhallas were discussed. It was noted that their participation in prevention of offenses at an early stage is not felt, since in many cases the potential, knowledge and qualifications of guards do not meet the established requirements, selfless youth are not attracted to this work, there are no effective incentive mechanisms. Proceeding from this, it was entrusted to critically examine the activities of the social formation “Makhalla posboni” and develop comprehensive measures aimed at increasing the effectiveness of its work. 

Another painful theme was the absence of a significant reduction in fraud, despite all the measures taken. The main reasons for committing such crimes are non-execution of civil legal relations in accordance with the procedure established by law, non-observance of rules of conduct recognized in society. As a result, our gullible fellow citizens are becoming victims of scammers. 

In this regard, the President of our country paid special attention to the need of improving the process of rendering notarial services by preventing the facts of bureaucracy and red tape in the notary system, as well as the widespread introduction of information and communication technologies. 

It was also criticized that women are not prevented from committing crimes. In this regard, the need for a comprehensive study of socio-spiritual atmosphere in families, addressing identified problems at places, increasing responsibility of sector leaders, women’s committees and the public in this process was noted. 

The Head of our state emphasized that it is necessary to act not by the threat of punishment, but above all to educate in people such high qualities as law-abiding, awareness of inadmissibility of committing offenses, loyalty to the Motherland, respect for others. It was noted that in this case it is necessary to increase the activity of the mass media, radio and television, press services of law enforcement agencies. 

At the meeting, the issue of crime among youth, which is the most alarming, was discussed in detail. In particular, over the past 10 months, 22 thousand young people have committed crimes, which is one third of the total number of violators of the law. Unfortunately, 875 students of academic lyceums and professional colleges, 310 schoolchildren committed grave and especially grave crimes. 

The need was emphasized to prevent such cases from happening again, when as a result of a fight between students of Tashkent College of Law, who were supposed to be in class at that time, one teenager died and another was seriously injured. 

At the meeting, issues of preventing crime among youth, strengthening interaction of educational institutions and internal affairs bodies in this direction, increasing their responsibility were discussed. To this end, heads of relevant ministries and departments were instructed to develop a program of concrete measures on effective organization of meaningful and useful leisure for students, forming entrepreneurial skills in the period of pre-school and school education, attracting highly qualified specialists to this process, creating educational literature in the sphere of business for youth. 

At the meeting, special attention was also paid to issues of eliminating unemployment, which is one of the main factors in preventing crime. It is impossible to achieve the intended goal of crime prevention without solving this problem. 

In this regard, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev focused on the fact that more than 16 thousand persons who committed crimes, or every fourth, are unemployed. 

The Head of our state emphasized that for preventing such case, a head of each sector should fully support business entities in the territory entrusted to him, promote creation of new workplaces, take concrete measures for ensuring employment of unemployed citizens. 

Another relevant issue is discrepancy with the requirements of today’s measures taken on ensuring road safety. So, 2 031 people died, 7 622 were injured as a result of about 8 thousand traffic accidents over the past 10 months. The main reasons of these incidents are serious problems with culture of compliance with the Road Traffic Rules by our citizens, taking measures on road traffic safety. 

Taking this into account, instructions were given to responsible persons on improving the road traffic culture of drivers and pedestrians, equipping roads with modern technical means of ensuring traffic safety. 

The issue of strengthening the office discipline and legality in the sphere of crime prevention, disposal of law enforcement bodies from random people who do not possess the proper competence and do not feel their responsibility remains, which causes a just indignation of citizens. 

In this regard, specific instructions were given on further improvement of the system of training and advanced training of personnel for the formation of employees that are highly professional and who meet the requirements of culture. 

At the meeting, activities of sectors established at the initiative of the President of our country in each district were analyzed. It was emphasized that henceforth the head of each sector will also bear personal responsibility for the state of crime. In order to increase responsibility of sector leaders in this direction, the task was set on establishment of a Republican commission on early prevention of crime and combating offenses in the regions. It should include the heads of “Makhalla”, “Nuroniy” funds, the Union of Youth, the Women’s Committee, the Federation of Trade Unions, the Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment, coordination of its activities by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis is envisaged. 

At the meeting, special attention was paid to the issue of spirituality of leaders. It was noted that a head is appointed to the post not for testing the patience and perseverance of people, but creating decent conditions for them, facilitating their life. It was especially noted that leaders of all links – a minister or khokim, head of an agency or an organization – should be an example for all by their moral image, behavior and level of culture. 

Speakers at the meeting noted that large-scale work on ensuring peaceful and tranquil life of citizens of the country, preventing offenses, combating crime, as well as solving other vital issues, the created new system of direct dialogue with people are giving their positive results. At the same time, it was emphasized that despite all the measures and efforts taken, there are still many shortcomings in the field of crime prevention, it takes a lot to do for eliminating them, that in the process of ensuring strict execution of specific instructions given by the Head of our state, the main attention should always be paid to issues of further strengthening the interaction of government bodies, makhalla activists and other public structures.