MOSCOW, March 14 - RAPSI. The police has proposed granting private security guards with the unrestricted right to search and detain public order violators and criminals, Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Gorovoi said at a meeting of the Coordinating Council for Cooperation with Private Security and Private Detectives on Thursday.

Private security guards are not allowed to search or detain suspects and must first call the police.

Accidents are common in situations where private security guards refrain from taking any action due to their limited capabilities.

"We should consider amending the federal law to grant private security guards the right to search and detain public order violators and criminals - first at a limited number of facilities," Gorovoi said.

He noted that, as a result of law enforcement reform, staff have been cut by 20% and the police "has difficulty preventing and investigating crimes, especially street crimes and crimes committed in public places."

In 2011, then-President Dmitry Medvedev launched broad police reform, slashing the force from 1.2 million to 1 million through reevaluation tests in an attempt to cull corrupt and incompetent officers.