Minister's Policy: 2009
The policy will be implemented by the Israel Police as a work plan designed to strengthen deterrence, public safety, delinquency, crime, road accidence and public corruption.
Background:
The outcome of the battle against crime, as reflected in the numbers over the past three years, is certainly encouraging, yet the decrease in the sense of personal security, in addition to the descent in the trust the general public have in the public servants, is a continuous strategic threat on Israel's social and economic strength, and its quality of life.
Work Assumption:
The large majority of the general public is law abiding citizens.
The goal is to protect that majority from the small number of offenders
1. Therefore:
In accordance with the original policy from June 2006 and its update from August 2007, presented here is the second update of the Minister's policy which will be implemented by the Israel Police as part of its perennial work plan and as derived from the approved budget in the following fields:
a) Deterrence being a key aspect in the police work, while confronting offenders or potential offenders.
b) Offering effective services to anyone who turns to the police for assistance
c) Reinforced assistance and support to law abiding civilians
d) Uncompromising battle against crime and criminals
e) Increasing effectiveness – transforming the Israel Police into a significantly more effective organization in order to achieve its goals
f) Increase cooperation and coordination with relevant bodies, both within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security (Israel Prison Service, the Israel Witness Protection Authority) and with other Government offices, the State Advocacy, the Judicial System, the Tax Authority, the Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority, the Israel Road Safety Authority, the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), the Israel Defense Force and others.
2. Timetable:
a) Immediate: by June 2009
b) Short term: by the end of 2009
c) Medium term: by 2010
d) Long term: by the end of 2012
By 2020 (for infrastructure projects)
3. Police stations across the country which were defined as central combat units against crime are the primary point of contact between the Israel Police and the law abiding citizens.
The local police officer must portray self confidence in his operational and professional capabilities to confront any difficulty in his or her jurisdiction. Every police officer must know that in the time of need, all the organization's resources will be available to them in order to achieve success. Therefore:
a) "Deterrence" as a primary motto in the professional work of the police, both towards criminals and potential criminals, in order to dramatically reduce crime.
i. The police officer's appearance (dress, equipment and behavior) are an integral part of the deterrence
b) Integrating the specialized and elite Israel Police Units into the everyday crime and violence police work in order to cause an immediate and dramatic change in the sense of personal security among the Israeli citizens and to strengthen the deterrence factor.
c) The manpower and resource regulations for every police station will continue to be filled to its full capacity, as a top priority, while focusing on patrol, detection and investigations
i. The planned reinforcement of 1000 new police officers will continue as scheduled
ii. The remaining police officers of the above 1000 who were not recruited during 2008 will be recruited
iii. A new police station personnel regulation will be set and presented, based on demographic, crime and delinquency data
d) The extent of contact between IDF service police officers and the general public will be reduced to a minimum, with a goal no more than one third of the police force at the end of 2009.
e) The Israel Border Police as the "Seventh District" for the battle against agrarian crime
In order to immediately implement one of the Border Police's responsibility – the battle against agrarian crime, the orders and procedures will be completed immediately.
4. In regard to the uncompromising battle against crime and public corruption:
a) The continuation of upgrading the intelligence gathering tools as a primary factor in the professional police work:
- In continuance of the Minister's work plan for the sigint intelligence collection, stage 2 of the plan will be executed during 2009
- Make use of the existing sigint intelligence collection system to its fullest potential
- Completion of communication system with the Israel Security Agency in accordance with the Communication Research Act
- Completion of the communication system with the IDF Intelligence Branch and the Mossad aimed at cooperation in the battle against Israeli crime abroad and international crime
b) Continue reinforcing "Lahav 433", the IP national crime unit in its battle against severe and organized crime
- Completion of the transfer of the unit to its new headquarters
- Continuation of the upgrade and reinforcement of the joint intelligence center
- Completion of the establishment of the Israel Witness Protection Authority
c) Continuation of the significant improvement in gathering clear cut evidence as part of solving crimes and bringing criminals to justice
- Ensure that forensic science doesn't slow down the police work
d) Improve the visual capabilities for intelligence gathering, operational escorts and evidence
5. Battle against road accidents via significant enforcement which is aimed at amplifying the deterrence among offending drivers
a) Integrating the Traffic Department in inner city enforcement
b) Determining potential traffic offenders which will allow focused enforcement (requires legal alterations)
c) Focused enforcement on potential offenders' cars which were brought to the attention of the police by other drivers or any other method (requires new technologies)
d) Make use of automatic electronic enforcement
6. Inter-organizational changes leading towards a more effective police force:
a) Finalize and sign agreement with Ministry of Finance regarding fair compensation for police officers in accordance with the authorized salary plan
b) Examine minimizing number of command centers in order to close the security gaps between the regions
c) Operate the security/classification examination process based on ranks and positions.
d) Training and teaching as an empowering tool for the police officers
- The Israel Police and the Ministry of Public Security will prepare to separate the Human Resources Department from the Training Department (as is in all other organizations)
- The Israel Police and the Ministry or Public Security will prepare to upgrade the police patrol to its optimal level on a national level, either as part of the patrol division or any other context.
7. Closer integration and coordination with other Government offices and other judicial and legal systems in order to strengthen law enforcement:
The strength of the law enforcement chain is measured by its all of it links but is only as strong is its weakest. Therefore, in addition to the internal police work and changes, the Israel Police and the Ministry must work in conjunction with its second operational agency, the Israel Prison Service, other relevant units within the Ministry, and other external bodies such as the State Advocacy, the judicial system, the Ministry of Finance and Transportation, and other security agencies in order to secure the strength of the law enforcement chain.
a) Synchronize the perennial work plan of the Israel Police and the Israel Prison Service, on mutual subjects:
i. Add more space and beds in prisons
ii. Availability of prisoner escorts
iii. Offer police investigation capabilities (specified areas and technologies) in Israel Prison Services facilities.
iv. Plan and build police infrastructure adjacent to prison facilities.
b) Forming a perennial budget plan based on the Ministry of Defense budget plan.
- Finalizing the work with the government secretariat in order to establish a steering committee on the subject
c) Continue promoting biometric identification focusing on cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice with the goal to improve the every day police work of the Israel Police