Police officers and other staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be selected more rigorously

The Recruiting and Evaluation Department created within Stefan cel Mare Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) will be in charge of implementing these changes.  Currently, major renovation works are taking place at the premises where this entity will be located; subsequently, it will be provided with advanced equipment and software solutions intended for conducting transparent and high-quality assessment. This intervention is supported by the U.S. Government and implemented by UNDP Moldova.

The department will organize several stages of selection process, such as general culture test and physical and psychological assessment.

General culture tests, as the first selection filter, will be electronically filled in by the candidates. Should the candidates gain the required score at the first test, they will be admitted to the following stages and will be assessed from the physical and psychological points of view. Finally, those who pass all the stages of testing will be directed to the subdivisions they have chosen for an interview and a written test based on the aspects specific to each sphere relevant to the subdivisions.

All candidates intending to occupy a vacancy or to be promoted to a managerial position will have to undergo this procedure. The new assessment system will be applied to the staff and prospective employees of the General Inspectorates, the Migration and Asylum Bureau, the Information Technology Service, the Internal Protection and Anticorruption Service, the Material Reserves Agency, Stefan cel Mare Academy, “Dinamo” Central Sports Club, the Healthcare Service of the MIA, etc.

The Department, founded in July 2020, is headed by Vica Anton, a young professional who has over 10 years of experience in the sphere of psychology and has managed to build a step-by-step career in the internal affairs system. 

“If candidates fail to meet minimal standards to be employed by a certain subdivision, they will be reoriented, with their consent, towards spheres and functions different from their initial options but compatible with the profile determined as a result of the scores obtained at the selection tests,” notes Vica Anton, Head of the Recruiting and Evaluation Department.  

The Recruiting and Evaluation Department will occupy an area of approximately 500 square meters on the ground floor of one of the blocks of Stefan cel Mare Academy of the MIA. This is where offices for the staff, rooms for psychological assessment of the candidates, administrative areas, a data center, etc., will be located.

With U.S. and UNDP support, the institution will develop a specialized platform for digitalizing the workflows within the Recruiting and Evaluation Department, from online application and processing of candidates’ files to compiling reports and approving final decisions. A set of psychological tests to be used for assessing the candidates will be an inherent part of the platform. It will include over 50 internationally validated psychological tests. The staff of the Department will be instructed to use the new platforms in an efficient way.

“Approximately 16 thousand employees work at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its subdivisions. After the department starts operating at its peak capacity, over 3 thousand persons will be assessed each year. On the one hand, the department will assess new employees; on the other hand, it will be in charge of psychological or comprehensive assessment of staff members already holding their posts. This is necessary due to the staff’s working conditions – their duties are very stressful, and, unfortunately, their state is not assessed every time it is required,” Vica Anton adds.

In the long run, subdivisions of the department will be established in the southern region of the country, in Cahul, and in the north, in Balti, to ease the access of this service by the eventual applicants. In addition, the department will be able to offer staff assessment and selection services to the other institutions, for instance, to the National Anticorruption Center, the State Protection and Guard Service, the National Administration of Penitentiaries, etc. 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police of the Republic of Moldova have a long-lasting collaboration with the U.S. Government and UNDP, during which several activities were carried out to strengthen institutional and professional capacities of police so as to ensure a safe environment for all men and women in the Republic of Moldova and increase people’s trust in police.

The project “Support to Law Enforcement Reform in Moldova” is implemented by UNDP with the financial support of the U.S. Government.