Police officers will be treated to museum excursions and concerts as part of a new effort to prevent them from losing their cool and breaking the law.
The recreational activities will be organized by a new Interior Ministry department that will be created before July with a mandate to teach police officers to resist corruption and prevent them from committing crimes, Interfax reported Tuesday.
According to a ministry order, the proposed department of moral and psychological support will monitor police officers for violations, including looting, alcoholism, drug abuse and theft of weapons and explosives.
The department will also organize cultural events for police officers such as concerts, trips to theaters and museums, lectures and meetings with artists.
These events should help police officers cope with the stress and fatigue that comes from their work, the order says. The new department will offer individual consultations to police officers who show signs of "deviant or destructive behavior."
Police are widely seen as the country's most corrupt and violent public servants. In February, President Dmitry Medvedev, who has made the fight against corruption one of the hallmarks of his presidency, vowed to take personal control of police reforms.
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