Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed...
Medvedev earlier ordered police personnel cuts by 20% over the next two years to be balanced by higher salaries for remaining staff in a bid to address public anger and avert negative perceptions of police by widespread corruption.
"I submitted earlier today according bills to the State Duma and signed an order," Medvedev said at a meeting with the Interior Ministry"s senior officials.
The president also pledged to halve the Interior Ministry"s central apparatus to 10,000 people as part of the ministry"s reform.
"I have made the decision to cut the central apparatus personnel to 10,000 from 19,970," Medvedev said.
He also said he had instructed Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev to submit "a detailed plan for improving" police work within a month and urged efforts to raise crime solution.
"Despite the measures being taken, only half the crimes have so far been solved annually. Over 1.3 million crimes remain unsolved," Medvedev said.