Coordination of law enforcement activities is one of the most important tasks of the prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region

Under the current legislation of the Republic of Belarus, the prosecutor's office is vested with the function of coordinating the activities of law enforcement agencies, other state bodies engaged in combating crime and corruption, aimed at ensuring a comprehensive, coordinated, and targeted counteraction to crime and corruption.

The coordinating role of the prosecutor's office is due to the special position of prosecutor's offices within the system of state authorities and the very nature of prosecutorial supervision activities, which allows prosecutors to possess extensive and reliable information about the state of legality in society and to promptly respond to emerging negative trends in the development of the criminogenic situation.

Prosecutors systematically carry out a set of analytical, organizational, and practical measures to unite the efforts of coordination subjects in combating crime, ensuring timely prevention and prophylaxis, detection, suppression, and disclosure of crimes, prompt and thorough investigation of crimes and socially dangerous acts, and elimination of the causes and conditions that contributed to their commission.

To develop and adopt joint decisions on the most pressing issues, a coordination meeting headed by a prosecutor is formed, which includes heads of state bodies engaged in combating crime and corruption, other organizations involved in combating crime, as well as heads of subjects of crime prevention. At the same time, the decisions of the meeting are binding on state bodies and other organizations engaged in combating crime and corruption, participating in this fight, and their officials.

The procedure for the work of the coordination meeting and the powers of its chairman are determined by the Regulation on the activities of the coordination meeting for combating crime and corruption, approved by the President of the Republic of Belarus.

In order to coordinate the activities of state bodies, prosecutors may also create temporary

commissions or working groups, to request statistical and other necessary information, to hear reports from heads of state bodies, to issue binding instructions on the organization of the fight against crime and corruption. Informing the public about the state of the fight against crime and corruption, and the results of law enforcement activities of state bodies through the media is also of significant importance.

The prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region actively use the powers of prosecutors to coordinate law enforcement activities in order to strengthen legality and law and order in the region.

Coordination meetings on combating crime and corruption have been established and are effectively operating in each district of the region. Meetings are held as needed, but at least twice a year, and the most problematic issues of law enforcement activities, which require coordinated actions of various departments for their resolution, are considered at these meetings.

For example, in April 2018, a regional coordination meeting on combating crime and corruption was held, which considered issues of improving the effectiveness of state bodies and organizations in preventing the deaths of people, including children, from external factors.

In October, a coordination meeting was held to consider the issue of improving the effectiveness of measures taken by law enforcement and other state bodies to counter corruption, and to eliminate the causes and conditions conducive to corruption manifestations.

On 27.12.2018, the coordination meeting heard a report on the implementation of the comprehensive program for the prevention of offenses in the Vitebsk region for 2018, and also approved a comprehensive plan for the prevention of offenses for 2019.

In total, prosecutors of the Vitebsk region held more than 100 meetings of coordination and interdepartmental councils in 2018.

The work carried out by prosecutors to coordinate law enforcement activities, the constructive and coordinated work of law enforcement agencies, local authorities, andother subjects of prevention of offenses allow maintaining a stable criminogenic situation in the region, consolidating positive trends in the dynamics and structure of crime.

Thus, over the past years (since 2014), a steady trend towards a decrease in the crime rate has been observed in the region.

In 2018, a total of 9675 crimes were registered in the region, which is 642 (6.2%) less than in 2017 (10317). The crime rate per 10,000 population was 81.7, which is lower than the national average (88.2). The number of victims of criminal acts decreased by more than five hundred people (from 7406 to 6883; -7.1%).

The prosecutor's office will continue to take systemic measures aimed at coordinating the activities of law enforcement agencies, local authorities, as well as other subjects of prevention in preventing crimes and offenses, and strengthening citizen security.

Head of the organizational and control
department of the regional prosecutor's office
I. Morozov.