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In police rebranding most important are structural changes - Putin

Speaking about the reform’s results, the president confirmed, most police have to be working more for the raised wages

MOSCOW, December 20 (Itar-Tass) —— During the reform of Russia’s Interior Ministry renaming militsiya into the police was not obligatory, as the most important things were structural changes inside the Interior Ministry and raising wages for the staff, President Vladimir Putin told a big news conference on Thursday.

“The renaming /into the police/ is a matter of taste. While I was the prime minister, I was aware of it. The renaming was not necessary. But at that time urgent were structural changes of the system of the Interior Ministry, and the question was about the wages for the staff.”

Speaking about the reform’s results, the president confirmed, most police have to be working more for the raised wages. He quoted poll results, where 75 percent of the police are proud of their work and want to continue serving at the system of the interior ministry.

Speaking about effective fighting the crime, which is high in the country, Putin expressed the view that “it is necessary not to raise punishments for crimes, but to make punishments un avoidable.”