Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Police Chief General Esmael Ahamdi Moqaddam said the force is seriously following up any complaints against policemen to safeguard citizens.
“3,040 police officers have been punished and 735 others have appeared before the prosecutor’s office,” said Brigadier General Ahamdi Moqaddam.
He added that the move came after people notified the police public supervision center, 197, about misconduct by police personnel.
“During the first half of the (Iranian) year some 563,000 people called the 197 center, with 230,000 of them seeking police guidance and 48 percent criticizing police performance,” the commander said, press tv reported.
Noting that public satisfaction of the police is growing, He said, the number of complaints against police showed a ten percent decrease compared to the corresponding figure for last year.
In another part of his comment, he added that according to polls carried out by police, drug trafficking is the main problem faced by people across the country.
In July, Ahamdi Moqaddam announced that 135 tons of narcotics had been confiscated since the beginning of the Iranian year (March 2007).
He reported a 48 percent increase in the total level of drugs seized by police across the country compared with corresponding figures for the last year.
The Brigadier General told reporters in the city of Arak in Markazi province that crimes such as murder, kidnap and armed robbery have registered decreases of 10 to 70 percent during the first quarter of the current Iranian year.
Reports say poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reached an all-time high since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
Opium production reached 8,870 metric tons last year, with Afghanistan accounting for 92 percent of the active ingredient in heroin.
With 3,500 law enforcement officers killed in two decades of drug busts, the UN credits Iran for the seizure of 80 percent of the opium netted around the world in 2007.
Over the past five years, the Islamic Republic contributed $50 million annually to the Afghan government to help the country in its anti-drug efforts.
Iran seized 900 tons of narcotics coming from Afghanistan last year.
