News.Kyiv.Me.

New patrol policeman from Crimea hopes to change corrupt system of Ukrainian …

Dmytro Kamalin left everything behind and fled Crimea on his old ‘Lada’ before peninsula’s occupation

For the last five months Dmytro has been working in the new patrol police in Kyiv. Despite the lengthy commute to work and long shifts, Dmytro is happy with his new job.

Dmytro Kamalin, Kyiv Patrol Police officer: “I like my new job. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m still excited about various the assignments, which we get”.

Read also Ukrainians impressed with new police but expect more professionalism – poll

But Dmytro is relatively new to kyiv. Up until march of 2014 Dmytro had been living in Crimea, but when Russian special forces with no insignia appeared, he decided to flee.

Dmytro Kamalin, Kyiv Patrol Police officer: “I left Crimea on March 15-th – one day before the referendum, because I decided that I wanted to live in free Ukraine. I didn’t want to live under the Russian flags, didn’t want to be forced to obtain Russian citizenship, so I decided to leave one day prior to that”.

So, Dmytro got into his old Lada and drove North-West to the city of Lviv, which the Russian propaganda labelled as the strong-hold of fascists.

Dmytro Kamalin, Kyiv Patrol Police officer: “The first thought of why am I going to Lviv was to debunk the myth about the fascists once and for all”.

Having spent several weeks in Lviv and running out of money, Dmytro got into his Lada again and left for Kyiv. Here, he settled in one of the refugee centres and did any work, which came his way. When the government invited applications for the new police force, Dmytro decided to apply and he knows exactly why.

Dmytro Kamalin, Kyiv Patrol Police officer: “First of all I did it to change the system, the law enforcement system. Obviously, I can’t change the system all by myself, so I hope there are other cops, just like me, who came here to change something.”

Watch also Exclusive Interview: New Kyiv police patrol officer tells his story

Dmytro starts changing the police force with his own example. He says that his favorite are the assignments, where he can help people. He prefers helping people to issuing tickets or catching criminals. And he has great career ambitions.

Dmytro Kamalin, Kyiv Patrol Police officer: “When Crimea is returned to Ukraine, I plan to continue my career as a policeman, but I hope, this will be as a chief of Simferopol police department”.

With more people such as Dmytro and his devotion and positive attitude, looks like the NEW police indeed has a chance to become truly NEW and truly human.

This is Volodymyr Solohub, Serhiy Azarenko and Andriy Vyetoshkin reporting from Kyiv for Ukraine Today

Source:
Photo – Dmytro Kamalin