PM wants ministers to study US urban policing models
Ministerial committee on urban policing debates internal security minister's demand to have Israel Police oversee new force, versus finance minister's suggestion to subject it to municipalities
On Monday, Netanyahu headed a ministerial committee meeting on the matter. Also attending were Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen, Minister of Intelligence Services Dan Meridor and Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman.
Minister Aharonovitch insisted that the Israel Police oversee the future force, thus backing a previous stand expressed by the police commissioner.
Steinitz, on the other hand, advocated subjecting the urban police force to the respective municipalities, saying such a move would be "conducive to the sense of personal security by creating constructive competition. Each mayor would be judged according to the level of security provided for the residents."
Aharonovitch countered, saying that "such a move would create 250 independent police forces cut from the national police force. The Israel Police must oversee the urban police, which will be deployed according to a city's needs."
"The question is what was done in countries that have been able to able to curb crime rates," said Netanyahu.
"What is the common denominator for these places? We have to study the seven US cities that have applied (urban policing) successfully and see what they did," he concluded.
