Managers of apartment houses will aid Kaunas city police officers in their fight against crime. To date, Police Supporter Certificates have been granted to the managers of twenty buildings working for City Service, Namų priežiūros centras and Žaidas.

‘The Police Supporters’ major function is to help officers maintain public order and peace, as well as ensure the safety of people. Maintaining order in the apartment block environment is a task our officers face every day. We would like to hail the managers of apartment houses public-spirited step, i.e. joining the ranks of police assistants. We hope that this cooperation will help make the apartment blocks safer’, Remigijus Stukas, the head of Public Order of Kaunas County Police Headquarters, said.

According to officers, the most frequent violations in apartment blocks are bullying, vandalism, traffic violations, noise at night, and destruction of public and private property.

Working in tandem with the managers of apartment houses, officers will be able to gather more information about transgressors. In addition, the preventive work allowing similar crimes to be avoided in the future will become more efficient.

‘The functions of managers of apartment houses are not limited to administrative services only. We act as stewards and social partners, aiding in the creation of a cosier environment. One of our social activities is increasing security and public order. For 4 years, we have being participating in the Safe Neighbourhood Programme launched in Dainava Township. Now this activity will broaden significantly. After becoming Police Supporters, we will be able to obtain direct contact with law enforcement authorities for the prompt exchange of information obtained from the population’, Vida Naudžiūnienė, head of City Service for the Kaunas Region, said.

The Police Supporter Certificates were granted to managers working for City Service (supervising Dainava Township), Namų priežiūros centras (servicing Šilainiai) and Žaidas (supervising the apartment buildings in Kaunas city centre). Before becoming Police Supporters, these people received training that included the basics of criminal, administrative and environmental law, as well as lectures on the protection of human rights, ethics, required self-defence, etc.

The police officers will cooperate with the managers in accordance with a fixed plan that includes the regular exchange of the useful prevention-related information, supervision of territories, and discussion of joint action that may help increase the security of individual apartment blocks.

In other major Lithuanian cities such as Vilnius, Klaipėda and Šiauliai, even more managers of apartment houses plan to join the police supporters by the end of the summer.