Twenty-five police specialists are bracing for their first training starting on Tuesday ahead of serving the Roma communities, said Michaela Paulenova of the Interior Ministry on Monday. The two-day pilot session is to feature training by acknowledged experts in issues such as police work among the Roma, as well as academics focusing on racism, prejudices and stereotypes.
The list of expert trainers will include a Czech Roma, Petr Torak, who has become a police officer in the United Kingdom and makes use of his experience in working with ethnic minorities there. This first session will be followed up with another two-day session a month later. The programme should eventually prepare a total of 231 such specialists to work towards reducing the crime rate and help investigate crimes. Successes in deployment of police specialists among the Roma have been recognised internationally as being conducive towards the building of mutual trust and understanding.
