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The publication highlights the issues of improving the organisation of the work of community police officers and district police inspectors in preventing and combating crime in the territory of service. The importance of implementing security audits of territories and buildings into the activities of community police officers and district police inspectors is proved. Security audits are the main tool that community police officers or district police inspectors can use to identify local security problems specific to a particular area or facilities, identify ways to address relevant risks and threats, and engage all stakeholders in working together to improve their own and others’ safety. The essence of the concept of “Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED)” and its impact on the formation of a proper state of the security environment at the local level of the community is revealed. It is emphasised that the CPTED principles are universal and can be applied to improve the security of any territory or facility. At the same time, their effectiveness largely depends on the completeness of the identification of security risks and threats. The article suggests the following areas for improvement of the regulatory and legal support for the activities of community police officers: 1) adoption of a separate regulatory legal act on the activities of district police officers, taking into account the peculiarities of police work in the city; 2) approval of instructions on the procedure for carrying out control and supervision activities in the service area. This regulatory act should provide for the forms of such files, the procedure for their completion, registration, verification and control; 3) inclusion of individual cases on security audits of the territory or individual buildings or facilities in the official records of a community police officer. Relevant security audit forms should be officially approved; 4) adoption of methodological recommendations for organising security audits and applying the principles of CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) in professional activities.

A comprehensive analysis of the bodies and units of the National Police of Ukraine activities in the de-occupied territories and in the territories close to the combat zone is carried out. It is emphasised that the exercise of police powers in such territories is characterised by very rapid dynamics due to the constant change of the operational situation, increased physical and psychological stress. It is stressed that the concept of forming and further ensuring the stability and sustainability of the country’s unified security environment is fully implemented by the police not only in the areas where no hostilities are taking place, but also primarily where the state of ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens requires special attention, i.e. in the de-occupied territories or in settlements close to the combat zone. The author analyses the content and procedure for the implementation of the main stabilisation measures: provision of humanitarian services to the population (evacuation, delivery of humanitarian goods, escort of civilian transport, opening and maintenance of the points of invincibility, psychological support); identification of social and security problems in the de-occupied territories, as well as persons in need of assistance; humanitarian demining; exposure of collaborators and accomplices of the occupation regime; investigation of war crimes; searching for persons who went missing as a result of hostilities; identifying places of mass graves and illegal detention of citizens; ensuring the implementation of martial law measures; creating emergency response systems for emergencies and offences; ensuring public order and security, preventive activities, combating crimes and other offences. The number of conceptual provisions on improving the regulatory and methodological support for the application of stabilisation measures by police personnel in the de-occupied territories of Ukraine has been formulated.

The full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for three years now, and the Russian army is facing steady resistance from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The law enforcement forces cannot help but take part in hostilities in the course of their direct duties. Law enforcement officers are disciplined, trained, have certain knowledge of combat tactics, and are armed, so they can help effectively in confronting the enemy. The article analyses the combat capability and readiness of police officers to fight a general military battle. It has been noted that the most problematic issues are fire contact with enemy forces and tactics in the areas of service. Based on the analysis of literature and modern military operations, the directions for improving the effectiveness of actions of the National Police personnel in case of their participation in a general military battle have been identified. On the basis of a poll of various units of the National Police, the patterns are identified and the qualitative indicators of their readiness for combat operations have been assessed. The main situations and peculiarities of combat operations by law enforcement officers, as well as components of their readiness for these operations are analysed. The general military combat by police officers in small tactical groups is considered and its features are analysed. To confirm the theoretical provisions, the following experiments have been conducted with the use of firearms and in the context of modelling extreme situations during combat. Based on the analysis of information and the results of the experiments, a number of problematic issues related to the participation of police officers in hostilities have been revealed. The main problem is the lack of training of law enforcement officers for combat operations. There are also relevant issues of tactics and use of weapons by police officers during hostilities. Recommendations for improving the system of professional and in-service training of police officers are provided.

The article considers the problematic issues caused by the current circumstances, when the country is in a special legal regime of martial law and the importance and relevance of using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for reconnaissance of objects by the police on the ground are extremely high. The article analyses the effectiveness of different types of camouflage in countering reconnaissance using UAVs in different terrain; the optimal camera angle and the optimal flight altitude of UAVs for effective counteraction to the camouflage properties of the respective camouflage in different terrain are determined. Not only military camouflage, but also police uniforms are considered, which expands the scope of UAVs and makes the study more comprehensive. The study of the reconnaissance methodology using UAVs will allow the police to adapt quickly and effectively to new circumstances, as well as help optimise the performance of their combat missions. The effectiveness of the methodology of object reconnaissance on the ground in real scenarios is evaluated. Recommendations for improving the conduct of such operations as monitoring of mass disorders, rapid response to hazards, factors, etc. are provided. In developing the methodology for determining the optimal distance, the psychophysiological aspects of UAV operators are taken into account for the first time and the determination of optimal distances for effective detection and identification of objects is proposed.

The article analyses and clarifies the concept of public control over the activities of the National Police in Ukraine. Public control over the activities of the police is defined as a targeted activity of the organised and unorganised public regarding the quality of police activities and the effectiveness of the tasks and duties assigned to police representatives. The importance of public control over the activities of law enforcement agencies in terms of building a democratic state with an active civil society is emphasised. Public control is an instrument of public assessment of the implementation of public tasks by law enforcement agencies. Control over the activities of the National Police in Ukraine allows to regulate the relationship between the government and the community, which is an integral feature of all democratic states. The specificity of public control, in comparison with other types of control, is the subject-object sphere, which is manifested in the public's control. In the process of public control, the implementation of social tasks directly related to the protection and realisation of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as satisfaction and harmonisation of social needs and interests of the population is monitored. The main forms and subjects of public control are defined. Public control over the activities of the National Police can be carried out by individual and collective, organized and unorganized subjects whose activity profile is general or law enforcement oriented. According to their legal status, the subjects of public control over police activities can be natural or legal entities of private law and associations of citizens without the status of a legal entity. Important subjects of public control over the activities of the National Police in Ukraine are mass media, public councils and public organizations. It has been concluded that public control allows to improve the quality of police activities and to influence the implementation of changes in the activities of the National Police in Ukraine, which is especially important during a full-scale war.

The authors have studied the legal and organisational framework for the activities of higher education institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine which provide police training. It has been determined that the state of war caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine imposes new requirements on the quality of staffing of all security and defence sector entities, in particular, the National Police of Ukraine. Today, police units take part in hostilities, are involved in stabilization and filtration measures, mine countermeasures, evacuation of the civilian population from the combat zone and adjacent territories. Policemen are also involved in providing assistance to the population in the liberated territories, delivering food and essential items to people who have survived the occupation in extremely difficult conditions. It has been proven that institutions of higher education with specific learning conditions, which train police officers, must quickly adapt to changes in the tasks and powers of the National Police, so that the skills and abilities of students of higher education meet not only the standards of higher education in the relevant specialties, but also the state of internal security environment of the state and new areas of activity of state law enforcement agencies in a special period. On the basis of the work carried out, conceptual directions for further improvement of the activities of these institutions of higher education have been formulated, taking into account the requirements of the martial law. The main areas that need appropriate optimization and transformation are as follows: the regulatory and legal support of the educational process and scientific activity, legal regulation of the work of the psychological service, as well as material and technical support of the service by those seeking higher education; the need to change industry standards of higher education and typical curricula and educational programmes for police training; the improving the content of special educational disciplines, and changing approaches to the formation of personnel.

Further reform of law enforcement activities in Ukraine is, of course, absolutely necessary and requires constant attention from the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police and the services and units involved in this activity. The scientific approach and the definition of new directions and technologies are impossible without the use of research studies of the scientific and pedagogical staff of higher education institutions with specific learning conditions. The article analyzes the work of the dialogue police, identifies directions for improving their activities in terms of serving at mass events. Dialogue police is one of the main innovations in the proposed system of public order protection, which is implemented in the law enforcement activities of Ukraine as a “Scandinavian model”. The main tactical tasks of the dialogue police have been formulated, which include communication tactics and tactical skills. Based on the expert survey of police officers from different units, a list of problematic issues has been identified and directions for further research have been formulated. The factors that affect the effectiveness of the dialogue police during the service have been considered and analyzed, which made it possible to adjust the tactics of actions and personal security measures of the personnel. The tactics and personal security measures of the dialogue police are based on the basic principles of the Scandinavian model, the capabilities of the National Police, the theory of the crowd, the features of mass events, the differentiation of dangers and the “tree of events”. The actions and location of the dialogue police personnel have been proposed depending on the color of the “barometer of the situation” (green, yellow, red), the location in relation to other units of the National Police has been established. The conclusions and recommendations have been given, on the basis of which it is possible to reduce the level of injuries among the personnel of the dialogue police during the service at mass events and to increase their effectiveness; they can be used during the preparation of police officers for service and targeted instruction.

The high level of injuries and the number of cases of death of law enforcement officers, especially in extreme situations, require constant and in-depth research in the field of improving the professional abilities of law enforcement officers. There is also no doubt about the practical significance, all units of the National Police from the stage of professional selection to the system of professional training need improvement and a systematic approach to increasing combat readiness and fighting capacity, qualitative changes in the system of professional training. Unfortunately, not every police officer is ready to act in certain difficult and extreme situations. The results of the study of the impact of extreme situations on the combat capability and combat readiness of police officers are presented. The main features of extreme situations and their impact on the readiness of police officers for effective actions are considered. Training of police officers is limited to physical, psychological and fire training in static (comfortable) conditions. Attention is paid to tactical readiness and readiness to act in extreme situations as the least researched areas of police training. The main professional qualities of police officers and ways to improve them are considered and analyzed. Determination and improvement of professional qualities of police officers should be carried out with the help of an improved methodology of tactical training. The main types of emotions that reduce the readiness of police officers to act in extreme situations and personal safety measures during dangerous actions are analyzed. The expediency of implementing emotional rehabilitation in preparing police officers for actions in extreme conditions has been established. The obtained results of the research indicate the high efficiency of the proposed approach and methods of increasing the combat readiness and combat capacity of police officers during actions in extreme situations.

The article is devoted to the problems of organizing the activities of the National Police as a subject of the security and defense sector. The analysis of the scientific works of the scholars who were engaged in research within the framework of this issue made it possible to formulate the author’s definition of the concept of the security and defense sector. It was established that it is necessary to study, analyze and practically apply the experience of international institutions, organizations (NATO, EU, OSCE) of democratic European countries in order to improve national legislation and eliminate gaps, taking into account the experience of practical activities of police officers in the field of security and defense, to update the legal framework for ensuring the functioning of the national security system. The powers of the National Police as a subject of the security and defense sector is considered. It has been established that they can be of a general nature, that is, aimed at protecting the national interests of Ukraine from internal and external threats, ensuring the independence of the state and the protection of state sovereignty, as well as the territorial integrity of Ukraine, prevention of threats to national security, and more. It has been proven that a mandatory condition for a police officer during the performance of assigned tasks is compliance with the principles enshrined in international and national regulatory legal acts. Among the general principles, the following are distinguished: the principle of the rule of law, the principle of respect for human rights and freedoms, the principle of legality, the principle of openness and transparency, the principle of political neutrality, the principle of interaction with the population on the basis of partnership, the principle of continuity. It is proposed to make changes to the normative legal acts, namely: in the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police” to define the police as a subject of the security and defense sector, and in the Law of Ukraine “On the National Security of Ukraine” to define specific tasks of national security that require its provision by the police. This will make it possible to improve the role of the National Police of Ukraine as a subject of SDS.

Based on the analysis of scientists’ scientific views, the meaning of the concept of “qualification” has been revealed. It has been found that the qualification is a complex characteristic of the employee, which includes the presence of the appropriate level of education, as well as professional skills, abilities, skills, experience in performing certain processes and actions, which together characterize them as an experienced subject of a certain type of work. In fact, qualifications are a factor that determines whether a person can perform a job, such as serving in the police. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the initial professional training provides an initial level of qualification, which allows to work quite efficiently and comfortably in the bodies and units of the National Police of Ukraine, but the personnel prospects of such employees are truncated. An analysis of the current legislation, which determines the legal basis for training and retraining of employees of the National Police of Ukraine has been carried out. The peculiarities of training and advanced training of police officers at higher education institution have been revealed. It has been established that the training of a police officer is an additional element of his/her professional training, which takes place in parallel with his/her main service activity and is aimed at its improvement. As part of in-service training, skills and abilities are developed, as well as the knowledge of a police officer is supplemented in order to ensure that he/she performs his/her duties even more efficiently and effectively. In addition, professional development affects the career of a police officer, as the results of such training are properly designed and recorded in the personal file. It has been stated that the qualification of the employee is inextricably linked with the process of their professional training, acquisition of new skills, abilities, as well as the acquisition of special knowledge. The study of the legal framework has showed that the wider the level of education a police officer has, the higher his/her value to the bodies and units of the National Police of Ukraine. Taken together, these factors allow them to compete with other police officers in terms of professional prospects and opportunities to hold senior positions.

The scientific article is devoted to the research of the police preventive activity peculiarities in the countries of the European Union and the possibilities of borrowing positive experience of its implementation in Ukraine. Approaches to understanding the category of "preventive activities" used by domestic researchers and defining its essence are considered. In addition, attention is paid to the normative consolidation of this category and a number of principles inherent in this activity is identified. Focusing on the European experience of preventive activity, the author emphasizes that there are three models of internal security in the European Union, and then reveals the content of each model. Based on the analysis of the practice of specific countries of the European Union regarding the implementation of prevention, specific examples of such activities are given. It is noted that the study of the peculiarities of preventive activities in a number of countries of the European Union allows us to say that there is no single approach to these activities. That is why it is not right to borrow one or another type of preventive activity from one of the European Union countries, arguing that it is borrowing from the European experience, as in some countries the emphasis is on expanding police powers, in others it is on maximum interaction with citizens, involving them to assist in the implementation of certain police functions, and in the third, neither the concept nor the understanding of the essence of prevention as a form of police activity has been formed yet. In this regard, the experience of a single country cannot be used as a basis for implementation within national realities. At the same time, it is noted that our state should not refuse to borrow European experience in preventive activities. In particular, the introduction of rehabilitation programmes for persons who have already served their sentences will be useful for the domestic preventive system, given the fact that most programmes are comprehensive, they provide educational, monitoring and corrective measures to influence socially unacceptable, including criminal, behavior.

To clarify the essence and content of the concept “certification” a number of general theoretical approaches to the interpretation of this scientific category has been revealed. It has been proposed to understand the certification of employees of the National Police of Ukraine in different meanings: broad and narrow. The key features of attestation have been highlighted, which, in turn, include the fact that it is: 1) a legal procedure that is regulated and carried out primarily on the basis of the legislation, in particular general labor; 2) the procedure for assessing not only the qualifications, but also the business, political, psychological, moral and other qualities of the employee, which one must have to perform the duties; 3) a procedure that entails certain legal consequences in the form of a change or termination of labor relations between the employee and the employer. Based on the analysis of the current legislation, the shortcomings of the certification of police officers include the following. Firstly, the current attestation procedure is mostly disciplinary, as for most reasons it is used to decide on the future career of a police officer who has been the subject to a disciplinary sanction in the form of misconduct. Secondly, the attestation procedure does not provide for the obligatory involvement of representatives of the personnel support units of the police bodies in the attestation commissions, although in general attestation it is an important part of staffing. Thirdly, the legal framework governing the attestation procedure does not impose on attestation commissions the obligation to investigate the identity of the police officer being attested in the decision-making process, but only declares the need to take such information into account. Fourthly, the legislation on the police does not establish the principles and requirements for the procedure of attestation of NPU employees and does not include in its content the principles of general labor regulation of labor relations, therefore, this procedure could potentially violate the labor rights and responsibilities of police officers. The directions of the above-stated problems decision have been offered, which provides for changes and additions to both general and special labor legislation.

Based on the analysis of scientific views and current legislation, it was found that the purpose of staffing the National Police of Ukraine is to form a staff of qualified professionals capable of performing police tasks properly within certain job functions and in accordance with the specific needs of this central executive body. It is emphasized that the goal of staffing is achieved through solving a certain range of tasks. It is proved that the task, in the context of this issue, is most appropriate to understand as certain predetermined results of the activities of the authorized personnel of the police, the solution of which should lead to the achievement of a common goal. It is substantiated that the direction of the above tasks is most appropriate to divide into the following: a) prognostic and planned (study of the demand of the National Police for certain specialists, planning ways to meet it); b) recruitment and training (involvement of persons who have the ability and desire to work in the National Police, providing their training); c) accompanying tasks (providing conditions for maintaining and improving the quality of professional activity of employees); d) social security (proper provision of social guarantees for employees of the National Police); e) organizational, covering the tasks of proper documentation of enrollment in the National Police, training and postgraduate education and completion of employment in the National Police. It is argued that the tasks are inextricably linked to the staffing functions of the National Police of Ukraine. The analysis of scientific views of scientists allowed to state that the latter should be understood as the main activities of authorized entities, including identifying the needs of the National Police in certain qualified personnel, involving people in the National Police, competitive selection of candidates for service in the National Police bodies, organization of training, support of professional skills of employees of the National Police of Ukraine by directing them to the necessary types of postgraduate education, as well as the organization of career growth based on quality assessment of employees of the National Police of Ukraine, social protection, educational activities that include the application of disciplinary measures of encouragement and punishment, dismissal from the police service and socio-economic support of persons dismissed from the National Police, in accordance with the requirements of current legislation.

One of the areas of ensuring the rights of the child is to create a favorable environment for education, training, development and an effective system to ensure the realization of his or her rights. Bullying has become a common way of self-affirmation in schools. Sometimes participants in the educational process violate not only the norms of morality, but also the legal norms, for the violation of which there is legal liability. The aim is to study the place of the National Police of Ukraine in the system of subjects for prevention and counteraction to bullying and promising areas for improving the order of interaction between them. The scientific novelty of the study is that on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of national legislation, departmental bylaws and research in various fields on this topic, it was identified a system of subjects to prevent and combat bullying and promising areas for improving the interaction of the National Police with other entities in this area.. It was found that the bodies of the National Police of Ukraine are perhaps the most important state body, whose officials are obliged to consider and resolve cases of administrative offenses in most areas of public relations in the country. It is determined that the main tasks for preventing and combating bullying are prescribed only for educational institutions, and not for the entire list of subjects of response (prevention and counteraction), which negatively affects the effectiveness of these activities. This proves once again the need to adopt a separate piece of legislation to prevent and combat bullying in Ukraine. It is emphasized that the issue of the system of subjects for prevention and counteraction to bullying in Ukraine is ambiguous. On the one hand, it is quite broad, on the other hand, there is no clear legislative regulation on this issue. Therefore, there is a big problem in the order of interaction of the subjects for prevention and counteraction to bullying with each other, which negatively affects the common goals and objectives of this activity. It was found that the prevention and counteraction of bullying in the realities of today’s Ukrainian society is a priority in the fight against this phenomenon, the level of which is constantly growing. It is established that the main obstacles in the effective interaction of the National Police with various actors to prevent and combat bullying are the private and public aspect of this phenomenon, the intersectoral nature of this activity and the large number of organizational links. It is determined that the main problem is the lack of legislation that clearly establishes the list of subjects to prevent and combat bullying in Ukraine. It is emphasized that the specific focus of the juvenile prevention units activities, related to work with children (victims and child abusers), determines the unique interpretation of the functions performed by these units in this area.

The article is focused on the analysis of the legal category of police officers’ presumption of innocence. Accordingly, the purpose of the research is to provide comprehensive characteristics of police officers’ presumption of innocence, taking into account international practice of its formation and development. To achieve this purpose, the author has formulated the following tasks: 1) study of the historical aspect of the origin and formation of police officers’ presumption of innocence, including within the qualification immunity of police officers; 2) analysis of the practice of applying qualification immunity in the United States of America; 3) objective reveal of the content and essence of police officers’ presumption of innocence; 4) outlining the possibilities of introducing the police officers’ presumption of innocence into the legislation of Ukraine. The expediency of introducing police officers’ qualification immunity (police officers’ presumption of innocence) is based on a number of arguments, in particular: police officers need qualification immunity to perform their professional duties: they perform important tasks that may require immediate decisions in stressful situations, but lack of qualification immunity may lead that police officers do not dare to act when it is most needed; lack of qualification immunity can lead to unjustified police trials, when judges and jurors can review decisions, may lead to significant budget expenditures; police officers do not have absolute immunity and can be prosecuted for violating clearly established constitutional rights, despite the perspective of the availability of qualification immunity; police officers should not be forced to apply “abstract law”, i.e. those provisions that are not explicitly provided in the current legislation, but follow from its provisions, to specific circumstances, we cannot expect from police officers to be scholars in law sphere and use legal arguments during the arrest; police officers should be able to act professionally without worrying about prosecution.

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are undergoing a long-term transformation from a system of punitive law enforcement agencies to European-style law enforcement agencies, which should focus on providing services to the population and respecting human rights. One of the areas of the reform was the introduction of the Detective project in the National Police of Ukraine. It should be noted that detective work in Ukraine is a new type of professional activity. However, it should be noted that legal regulation of detective work of both civil servants (law enforcement detectives) and private detectives is absent in Ukraine, although in many countries around the world private detective work is legalized and benefits society. The adoption of the Law "On Private Detective Activity" will allow to establish proper state control over this type of activity at the legislative level and will legalize private detective activity, which is actually carried out, is in demand and recognized by society. However, there is an indisputable opinion in Ukraine that law enforcement activities can be performed exclusively by state structures. And the introduction and operation of private detectives will put an end to the state monopoly in this direction. However, there are also positive points: first of all, several thousand private detective agencies and private detectives must come out of the shadow, pay taxes, report to the police about criminal offenses that are being prepared or committed, provide intelligence, etc. Based on the above, we conclude that legislative regulation of such activities is required for the full work of police and private detectives, including amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine "On Investigative Activities", departmental orders and instructions, in particular, to the Instruction on the organization of interaction of pre-trial investigative agencies with other agencies and units of the National Police of Ukraine in preventing criminal offenses. detection and investigation, approved by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine dated from July 7, 2017, No. 575.

The author of the article studies the current state of legal regulation of civilian firearms turnover in Ukraine. The content of the bills that had been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at the end of 2020 was analyzed: «On the circulation of civil firearms and ammunition for them» (No. 4335), «On civilian weapons and ammunition» (No. 4335-1), «On the introduction amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine to implement the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On the circulation of civil firearms and ammunition for them"» (No. 4336), «On Amending the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine to implement the provisions Of the Law of Ukraine "On civilian weapons and ammunition"» (No. 4336-1). The author has formulated his own scientific position in regard to granting citizens the right to carry and use short-barreled firearms. The publication defines the directions for improving the draft laws under consideration in terms of: definitions of the terms of «sporting weapon», «thermal imaging sight», «signal weapon», «night vision sight», «training-split weapon - neutralized weapon», «right to carrying weapon», «right to own weapon»; introduction of the terms of «law enforcement agency», «intelligence agency», «law enforcement agency of special purpose», «state agency of special purpose with law enforcement functions» into the conceptual apparatus of the law, since some authors use them to define the regime of special circulation of civil firearms; establishment of restrictions on the number of civilian firearms and ammunition for them, which can be acquired by an individual; creating legislative prerequisites for the approval of a by-law, which will clearly provide the procedure for transferring seized weapons to the National Police for further storage; securing the obligation of security personnel to provide emergency medical care to persons to whom they use weapons; introduction of norms that will establish the obligation of applicants for the acquisition, possession and use of weapons to take the appropriate courses within first aid; preservation of the wording of the Articles 190-195 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses until the relevant law on the legal regime of sidearm is adopted.

The article highlights the problem of the need to strengthen the legal protection of employees of the National Police of Ukraine, who are subjected to illegal encroachments on their honor and dignity while performing their official duties. It is proved that there are acts concerning insults of police officers and insults or slanders committed against ordinary people in the normative legal acts of the countries of Europe and the former CIS. As a rule, insulting or slandering a law enforcement officer is a crime, while other actions are administrative offenses. Such actions have a qualified composition, which is manifested in the public dissemination of such insults or slander. It is argued that punishment for insulting a police officer is applied only in cases related to the performance of their official duties. Otherwise, the case will be considered in the usual way; the corpus delicti of such a crime may be recognized as qualified if such slander or insult is disseminated through the media or through the Internet. The current state of legal regulation of legal liability for insult and defamation of police officers in the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Poland, Germany, France and Spain is analyzed. Based on the study, the propositions to the Law of Ukraine «On the National Police» are formulated that are aimed at regulating the professional guarantees of police activities. It is emphasized that interfering in the activities of a police officer, failure to comply with his legal requirements, obstruction of the exercise of his respective powers, insult or slander against a police officer related to his official activities, insult to the police, as well as any other illegal actions they must be held legally liable for the police officer. The position that the profile law should enshrine in law the state protection of life, health, honor, dignity of a police officer, his professional reputation, members of his family, as well as property belonging to him and his family members from illegal encroachments in connection with the performance of official duties.

The negative socio-economic situation and large gaps in the moral and ethical education of the younger generation have led to an increase in the number of cases of deliberate abuse of older and stronger to the smaller and weaker members of educational institutions. The author has studied administrative and legal principles of the activity of the National Police of Ukraine on preventing and counteracting bullying. Based on a comprehensive analysis of national legislation on preventing and combating bullying in Ukraine, the author has determined perspective areas for improving administrative and legal principles in this area. It has been emphasized that the role of the National Police in this area cannot be limited to the preventive registration of a child. It is necessary to develop a set of preventive and educational measures aimed at preventing bullying manifestations among minors. It has been found out that there are no tools to assess the effectiveness of the impact of existing strategies to combat bullying in Ukraine, which necessitates further research in this area. It has been determined that it is necessary to fight not with individual facts of bullying, but to enshrine in the legislation the system of counteraction to harassment in educational institutions, which can be preventive in nature. It has been established that the legislator has introduced a number of amendments over the last few years, which are characterized by the strengthening of the component of protection of children’s rights. A positive novelty is that the main task of the juvenile police was preventive activity instead of punitive one. In general, the regulatory basis for the activities of the National Police of Ukraine to prevent and combat bullying can be divided into two parts: general legislative acts and departmental regulatory acts. It has been noted that the prevention of bullying and the prevention and combating of domestic violence are different aspects of the same problem, which are in constant close cooperation, and then the measures to overcome them should be common.

The author has studied the issue of further approach of the police service to the people – members of the united territorial community. The emphasis has been placed on the need to take further steps to strengthen partnership between the police and community members. Special attention has been paid to the important role of the National Police in the process of implementing the decentralization, taking measures to ensure public order and security in the territories of united communities, taking into account the views, positions and recommendations of residents of united territorial communities, the importance of interaction between community police officers and the population. The author has highlighted the importance of the pilot project “Community Police Officer” to further increase of public confidence in the police. The author has suggested appropriate measures for more effective promotion of this project, in particular: to initiate for the Department of the National Police of Ukraine to take measures aimed at creating a legal base that can ensure the effective operation of community police officers according to the legal point of view, as well as their interaction with other law enforcement agencies, introducing relevant amendments into existing regulatory documents; to prepare propositions in regard to these provisions; to develop routes and time of foot patrol by community police officers of the assigned territory, taking into account the analysis of street offenses, the location of places visited by a significant number of residents of the united territorial communities and other features of a particular united community; to make propositions for the creation of a “basic” united territorial communities in Kharkiv oblast, in terms of community police officers’ activities, to initiate and provide assistance to the Department of Preventive Activities of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv oblast in organizing and conducting practical classes with this category of employees with visiting the specified united territorial communities; to introduce training of community police officers on the basis of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, to prepare appropriate educational and methodical material; to improve the work of community police officers to ensure effective exchange of information, opportunities to quickly make decisions in case of complications, create an Internet group in the application “Telegram”, which should include police officers working within the pilot project “Community Police Officer”.

Based on the analysis of scientific views of scholars, the author has established that the legal regulation of incentives for police work is the regulation of public relations by law means in regard to external incentives for police officers to highly professional, conscientious and dedicated performance of professional and official tasks, functions and powers, as well as their encouragement to achieve positive results in this work. It has been emphasized that the need for legal regulation of incentives for police work is due to the fact that, first of all, employees must know and understand what they can expect in case of successful, dedicated, high-quality and effective performance of their duties and responsibilities, as well as what they can expect in case of improper (not effective, in terms of the violation of law, official discipline, norms of public morality, professional ethics, etc.) perfomance of their powers; secondly, work incentives are provided not only through positive motivation and encouragement, i.e. in the form of receiving appropriate remuneration by a police officer or public recognition of his or her merits, but also through the possibility of prosecuting a police officer for improper performance of official duties. The author has proved that it would be appropriate to provide the right of other subjects, such as members of the public, to raise the issue of encouraging a police officer in order to reduce the dependence of police officers on their immediate superiors in terms of incentives for conscientious work and special merits to society, since police officers serve not the superior officer, but to the people of Ukraine. It has been clarified that the normative principles of implementing the incentive measures within the system of police agencies cause certain remarks that do not allow to consider incentives as an unequivocally effective tool for influencing the efficiency and quality of police officers’ performance of their professional tasks, functions and responsibilities; a tool that really encourages them to selfless and conscientious work in the interests and for the benefit of the people of our state.

The author of the article presents the results of the legal and scientific researches analysis of the personnel policy strategy of the National Police of Ukraine in the context of updating administrative and legal principles of protecting human rights and freedoms. The modern challenges and directions of the personnel policy of the National Police of Ukraine in the conditions of social conflicts escalation are determined. It is stated that the improvement of the personnel policy of the National Police in all stages of its hierarchical structure and all its units has recently influenced, first of all, on the administrative and legal status of this state structure, focusing its activities on human rights and freedoms protection as a general state priority. The concept of “personnel policy” of the National Police of Ukraine is considered as a multidimensional process. It is focused on the implementation of legislative, organizational, administrative, research and other bases for the implementation of the main developing issue of the National Police and its structures; the regulation of procedures of structural units functioning and the police department competencies; defining the tasks, functions, rights, and responsibilities of personnel, as well as the responsibility level of police officers. It is determined that the personnel policy of the National Police is implemented through the totality of social functions of governmental institutions and determines the ways and means of provided reforms and the professionalism of their implementation. It is an important factor of the state integrity strengthening and the element of state regulation of the population lives and strategically determined by the general mission of the National Police. It involves promoting the implementation of state policy in the field of combating crime and ensuring public order, the realization of human rights and freedoms, interests of society and the state, the maintenance of public safety and the provision of services to persons in need within the limits of legislation. It is characterized by the general requirements for the competencies, functions, rights, and responsibilities of the personnel, as well as the responsibility level of police officers. According to the modern legislation, the National Police, as well as its separate units should be transparent in their actions, open enough for external control, including public control, its staff should be able to meet the needs of all segments of the population and structures of society in legal protection and maintaining security. It is proved that the ethical principles of the police officers’ activities are determined by the priority in serving the needs of individual citizens and society in the whole, by close cooperation and interaction with the population, territorial communities and public associations based on partnership and aimed at satisfying their needs, following the current legislation of Ukraine. It is determined that the perspective direction of the studied issue is the development of innovative methods and forms of training and advanced training of personnel capable to meet the professional requirements and ethical standards of policing.

The article is focused on studying the phenomenon of the administrative and legal status of the National Police as a subject of Ukrainian state policy implementation in human rights and freedoms. The author outlines the essence and content of the administrative and legal status of the National Police of Ukraine through the leading categories of "law" and "freedom", which are important for the democratic processes developing in Ukrainian society. The administrative and legal status of the National Police of Ukraine is considered as a set of characteristics and powers entrusted in the state legislation, a set of the following components: target – determined by the mission of the police to promote the state policy implementation in the fight against crime and peacekeeping, enforcement of rights, public and state interests; organizational – characterizes the structure of the National Police, consisting of a central police control facility, which consists of organizationally integrated structural units that ensure the implementation of the police tasks in human rights protection; competent – related to the definition of tasks, functions, rights, and duties, as well as the degree of responsibility of the law enforcement and its units and employees, determining the focus of their activities on the protection of the individual and the guarantee of the legitimacy of counteracting the state on the part of the person to protect their rights and freedoms. In practice, the implementation of the new administrative and legal status enables law enforcement to approve the law, enhance the communication and legal culture of police officers, overcome the traditional politicization and militarization of law enforcement by updating the organizing strategies of human rights activities, strengthen the state and professional discipline, make the police activities transparent, improve the control system and responsibility of police structures and professionals for malpractice.

The author of the article has studied the scientific positions of scholars on understanding and classification of the principles of law. The characteristic features of the principles of preventive police activity have been distinguished. First of all, they are formed and developed in accordance with the contemporary requirements, expectations and needs of members of society and the state regarding the protection of their rights, freedoms and interests within the public and legal sphere; secondly, they determine the social purpose, nature, content and limits of preventive police activity; thirdly, it is obvious that all principles of preventive police activity form an objectively conditioned, normatively fixed, scientifically sound, relatively stable “coordinate system”, the elements of which do not act in isolation but, in a certain interdependence, do not contradict each other and have distinct character in the application of police preventive measures and the implementation of the preventive function by the agencies and units of the National Police of Ukraine. The principles of preventive activities, depending on the method of their regulatory consolidation, are classified into: 1) general legal principles that determine the principles of formation and implementation of state policy in the field of national security; 2) basic principles that characterize the purposefulness, content and limits of police activity and are enshrined in the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police”; 3) special principles that characterize the specificity of preventive police activity. The principles of preventive police activity should be understood as objectively stipulated, pivotal, relatively stable, scientifically substantiated guiding principles, enshrined by the norms of national legislation and international legal acts, which are the basis for the activity of the National Police of Ukraine, as well as the authorized officials of its agencies and structural units carried out in the process of forecasting and preventing offenses through the use of preventive police measures permitted by national law, and complex of preventive actions.