Ilsur Metshin: "Safety of Kazan is a part of our image"

(KZN.RU, February 9). The coordination meeting to improve the effectiveness of interagency cooperation of internal affairs and the Kazan Executive Committee was held in Kazan City Hall with the participation of Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of the city, and Artem Hohorin, the Minister of Internal Affairs. The results of the work to ensure that the working conditions of public points of order safety, police departments, and their interactions were announced, as well as public security problems in 2017 were discussed.

Ilsur Metshin, opening the meeting, marked that security is one of the 12 most important priorities of the city's development in the coming years. “It is part of our image and one of the main factors of business, investment and tourist attractiveness of the city and the republic as a whole, as well as the citizens’ trust. Kazan and Tatarstan are in direct conjunction. And that is why we are discussing this subject today in the presence of Minister of the Internal Affairs”, said the Mayor.

He further cited a survey, conducted by portals domofon.ru and avito.ru, which asked its users if they believe their city is safe. Based on the answers, the top 100 of largest Russian cities was compiled. “For obvious reasons, small-population cities were the safest. Kazan took the 20th place, but the first out of all megalopolises. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is based on other statistics in their work, but we take into account the results of such polls, because they give a picture of well-being of our citizens”, said the Mayor.

Ilsur Metshin noted that many of the structural units of the Kazan Executive Committee, one way or another, are involved in the development of this priority. The Management of Information Technology and Communications and the Utilities Committee implement the city project to equip the video surveillance of apartment houses. Video surveillance is already organized in 62 residential areas. 203 requests for a video viewing were recorded in the three months, 372 facts of unloading and backup archives.

The Mayor reminded that the project “People's inventory”, in which the Committee of Land and Property Relations was identifying illegal sites, including gambling parlors, drugs-den, points of sale of counterfeit alcohol.

Ilsur Metshin thanked the Minister for his support in organizing of public points of order safety, by which the municipality has received an additional rate of employees of departments of Public Safety in the administrations of the city. This enabled the work to combat the unauthorized trading, identifying violations of rules and improvement of a number of other administrative violations, which are not directly related to the tasks of the police, but have the impact on public safety.

“We wholeheartedly concerned to ensure the operation of PPOS, as always trying to help our police departments in matters of repair, improvement and solution of social problems. The Municipal Department of Internal Affairs also not be overlooked, the 40th anniversary of which is coming this summer. We plan to repair the building of the Management”, promised the Mayor.

2770 cameras have been replaced in the institutions of social and cultural sphere in connection with the transition from analogue to more modern video standard, adopted throughout the republic.

“We have analyzed, and it turns out that 70% of the levies in schools, with which we are fighting, are associated with the collection of funds for their protection. It is necessary to centrally resolve this issue in a republic, and a great wave of indignation will disappear”, said I. Metshin.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Internal Affairs thanked the Mayor for the huge amount of work to create the conditions for police departments and PPOS. He noted that this is the first meeting in this format, but it certainly is useful for both sides.

“We have put the safety of the city in a priority after in-depth analysis and meetings with our residents and voters. We already had a good experience, when no excess was allowed during the Universiade and the FINA World Championships. This is a huge professional work of our law enforcement officers, led by the Minister and his team. We would like to build a relationship equally effective in our daily work. We are at the forefront, the year has started, and I would like to see our obligations performed flawlessly. Let's perform the tasks, which are set in conjunction with the Ministry, and the performance of which the time and the life require from us”, concluded the Mayor.