VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRA #0063/01 0361543
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051543Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6279
INFO RUEHTL/AMEMBASSY TALLINN 0035
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 4087
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 0001
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 1080
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 1175

UNCLAS RIGA 000063 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/OCS RICK DOWELL 
FRANKFURT FOR RCO KERRY BROUGHAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CIS PGOV ECON ASEC KCRM LG
 
SUBJECT: LATVIA: NEW POLICE UNIT SEEKS TO KEEP TOURISTS SAFE IN RIGA 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Riga has a new tourist police unit with 
multilingual officers who patrol areas popular with visitors and 
operate a telephone hotline around the clock.  The more 
sophisticated police presence at a time of widespread budget cuts 
illustrates that city officials recognize the importance of 
protecting the vital tourism industry.  While the police reported a 
sharp increase in crime since the economic crisis began, we have not 
observed a corresponding spike in reported crimes involving American 
citizens. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) We first learned of the establishment of a new 
tourist-focused police unit in September 2009 through the local 
media.  On January 14, RSO and Consular staff met at the Embassy 
with Andrejs Aronovs, the Chief of the new tourist police unit 
organized under the auspices of the Riga Municipal Police, to learn 
more about the specialized unit.  He informed us the team consists 
of 14 officers who can communicate in several languages that are 
most popular with visitors, particularly English, French, and 
German.  The officers wear highly visible reflective clothing and 
conduct both foot and vehicle patrols in the historic old city as 
well as in adjacent parks and transportation facilities. The 
officers are instructed to be proactive, and Aronovs described how 
officers approach apparent visitors who may be inadvertently walking 
into less safe areas of the city and offer them information or 
directions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Aronovs reported that, unsurprisingly, the peak hours of 
concern are in the late evening when many tourists emerge from bars 
and night clubs in an intoxicated state and are at a higher risk of 
being targeted by pickpockets, thieves, or con-artists.  Aronovs 
also expressed appreciation for post's efforts to develop a widely 
publicized list (available on our Internet site and re-published in 
many city guide books) of unscrupulous night clubs which demand 
exorbitant payments from unsuspecting foreign clients when it is 
time to pay the bill.  The tourist police, he reported, monitor 
clubs but can only do so in uniform, whereas other police units can 
conduct plainclothes operations.  Sometimes groups of inebriated 
tourists cause public disorder problems, especially groups of young 
men on bachelor party excursions, but these problems tend not to 
involve American citizens. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The tourist police in the field are linked to a telephone 
hotline that is staffed by multilingual police officers 24 hours per 
day who can provide information, assist with filing police reports, 
and dispatch officers to problem areas.  There is also a network of 
closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in key areas, and according 
to Aronovs police assets can generally reach any area of concern 
within one minute.  The tourist police have also developed a 
brochure in five languages providing the hotline, emergency contact 
information, and advice, which was distributed to area hotels. 
(Note:  Per Aronov's request we also made these brochures available 
in our ACS waiting room and posted it on our Internet site.  We also 
briefed Aronovs about how the Embassy duty officer system works and 
encouraged officers to contact us if they are dealing with an 
emergency situation involving an American citizen.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Aronovs confirmed that, since the serious economic crisis 
began, crime figures have increased across the board "and in some 
categories doubled."  Police salaries have also been reduced as the 
government seeks to reduce expenses, but Aronovs believes there are 
adequate resources for his unit to make a difference.  He 
acknowledged that there is some rivalry with regular city police, 
who conduct some overlapping patrols, but his unit is now partnering 
with other units to leverage limited resources.  Some regular police 
officers do not speak any English and are not specifically trained 
to focus on customer service.  This shortcoming was evident in one 
incident in October 2009 when an American visitor was mugged across 
the river from the historic old city and was unable to communicate 
with responding officers or file a timely police report. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In recent months Riga officials have expanded marketing 
efforts in neighboring countries to lure more visitors on city break 
vacations, and Latvia's main airline Air Baltic continues to add 
destinations to its impressive flight network.  The establishment of 
a tourist police unit in a difficult budget climate demonstrates 
that Latvia recognizes the need to protect the goose that lays 
sorely-needed golden eggs.  We have not observed any substantial 
increase in reports of crimes involving U.S. citizens even though 
crime has been a growing concern for the police, which may be an 
indication that policing efforts have been effective. 
 
 
GARBER