“Get out of the car, man!”: Police officer insults citizen

A Facebook user named Varduhi Ananyan wrote on her page: “Until this moment, I did not understand how a police employee could behave disrespectfully towards a citizen when the citizen is not provoking them. It turns out they can, and I realized this firsthand. On March 23 at 20:40, my Grand Cherokee Jeep, which was being driven by my husband Gevorg, was instructed to stop by the police along the Vanadzor-Yerevan highway in the Spitak area for a check. While we were trying to figure out where to park so we wouldn’t obstruct the street, a person in police uniform approached us with a street demeanor, swearing at my husband and demanding he get out of the car, saying, “Get out of the car, man!” In response, my husband got out of the car and requested that the officer speak respectfully. This was followed by further insults from the police officer.

My husband demanded appropriate behavior from the officer and mentioned that there was a woman in the car. The officer reiterated his demand to open the vehicle and started yelling. At that moment, other police officers arrived and tried to calm their colleague, who was already tugging at my husband for speaking with his hands in his pockets. Throughout the encounter, the police officer, who is paid by the taxes I and other citizens contribute, was cursing and shouting at me and my husband, forgetting that he is the representative of the law and was addressing citizens informally and aggressively.

The fact is, when I demanded to the other officers that they instruct their colleague on how to communicate with citizens respectfully and without swearing, they were surprisingly taken aback as if it were impossible. Now, should I believe what I heard, or your disbelief? Apparently, this so-called police officer thought we had insulted him, which is why he became agitated and started cursing. If that is the case, it seems to me that he is accustomed to it and finds it normal that he should be insulted.

I note that no officers approached us except for one from the patrol service whose name I unfortunately do not remember and a civilian dressed individual named Sergey. From conversations and the words of other officers trying to gather their colleague, I managed to record that the threatening officer's name is Gevorg Ghazaryan. I immediately called the Police’s 102 hotline to report what had happened and requested that they preserve the recordings from the cameras monitoring that day.

I have submitted a complaint through the e-reques system to the Police of the Republic of Armenia regarding the incident, demanding the initiation of an internal investigation, the dismissal of the officer who misbehaved and insulted the law protector and his name, and to ensure that he is punished with the full severity of the law.

On Monday, I have been summoned to the Spitak division to provide a more detailed account of what transpired. I hope that the staff will indeed act as protectors of the law and will not attempt to circumvent the law or persuade me to withdraw my complaint. P.S.: They have also tried using various channels to gather information about me to see how they can convince me to withdraw my complaint. I urge the same channels to convey that the law protector cannot exhibit such behavior and must be punished, regardless of whether he is a relative of my father, my mother, or of yours…”