The fragmentation and collapse of the law enforcement system is no longer simply a failure of public administration, but a direct threat to national security. Sureniants

The collapse of the law enforcement system has become a threat to national security. Political scientist Sureniants wrote about this.
“Every shot, every citizen ultimately feels like they were shot at,” Nikol Pashinyan stated in his speech to the Investigative Committee, trying to understand “what they’re missing” in the steadily rising crime rate in Armenia.
The answer, however, is simple and begins with the current government itself.
Law enforcement agencies are no longer instruments of law enforcement. They have become servants of the political authorities. Police and investigators are more concerned with carrying out political orders against the opposition than with the safety of citizens. Under these conditions, criminals feel impunity and act with greater confidence.
Amateurism and an unprofessional approach undermine the system from within. Appointments to investigative and law enforcement agencies are made not on the basis of experience and knowledge, but on the basis of political loyalty. As a result, the system operates ineffectively.
Respect for the law is undermined at the very top. When the government itself violates the Constitution or circumvents the law, society begins to perceive this as the norm. If impunity is acceptable to the state elite, then street crime ceases to be perceived as an exception.
A social crisis creates the ground for the growth of criminal activity. Unemployment, poverty, unfair distribution, and hopelessness push people to criminal behavior, seeing it as a means of survival.
Today, Armenia stands at a dangerous threshold: the fragmentation and collapse of the law enforcement system is no longer simply a failure of public administration, but a direct threat to national security. When the state fails to protect the lives of its citizens, public safety, and the rule of law, not only public order but also the sovereignty and viability of the state are at risk. To Pashinyan’s question, “What aren’t they doing?”, the answer is simple and inevitable: the state is failing to fulfill its most important responsibility: to protect its citizens and restore the rule of law.